giwro
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Posts posted by giwro
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Scott Bennett (who?) 216, Peter Planyavsky 5. What a strange world we live in.
B
Ah, Barry....
You must remember that the Organlive site is promoted mostly on USA-based chatlists -
sadly, Plany is not as well known on our side of the pond. That should take nothing from
Scott, who is also a fine organist, and has recorded some wonderful pieces.
I'd say that the "most requested" is likely not a good way to judge who might be the better
organist - it probably means that those requesting are partial to the repertoire being offered
on a particular recording.
Cheers,
- G
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Who, I ask, is Mary Mozelle?
MM
She's an organist in the USA (and a darn fine performer, I might add!)
I've had occasion to correspond with her, and she's a nice person, too.
for more info.
Cheers,
- G
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I'm a great fan of Peeters - some of his stuff is wonderful. I've had a look at his Lied-Symphonie, which is an engaging piece (and the Toccata, dedicated to Virgil Fox is a BEAR!). I enjoy his Suite Modale and his 3 modal fugues - when he's good he is very good, never is his stuff bad, the less inspired works are still well-crafted
de Maleingreau is also sadly neglected - I managed to get my hands on the MS for 11 of his 12 piano sonates, which are finely crafted works. I have an opus list if anyone is interested - he wrote over 100 works for various forces, only about 30-40 were ever published
Since we have Pierre here again to enlighten us, I want to hear about some other Belgians - I've been searching for some further Belgian Organ Symphonies while researching my book and have had a bit of a task getting ahold of the scores....
- Charles Hens (1898-1967) succeeded de Maleingreau as organ professor in Brussels, he is reported to have written 5 Organ Symphonies - none were published
- Arthur Meulemans (1884- 1966) Wrote 2 organ symphonies, a Pièce heröique, Seven Pieces, a Sonata, 2 Concertos for O+O and one for Organ and Brass.
- Désiré Paque (1867-1939) wrote quite a few pieces for organ, one Symphonie (and possibly more, but I've not been able to confirm that) They are quite advanced harmonically for the era in which he was writing - he was an early dabbler in atonal concepts.
Hermann Roelstraete - I have 2 of his works (an aria and a P+F) - nice modal stuff - I'd like to see the Sonates and other works.
~~~
I've got more Belgian composers that interest me, but it's late on this side of the pond, and I need my sleep. Pierre, can you shed any light on those I've mentioned above?
Best,
- G
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Now, I fully realise the difficulty of trying to encapsulate in a post what would take years of training in France, but can I appeal to the breadth of experience and knowledge on this board and ask "What would be your one, overriding piece of advice about trying to improve improvisation?"
Thanks in anticipation,
jonadkins
I'll say what I've heard every person tell me in all of the improvisation classes/seminars/coaching I've been in:
"You must practice the techniques of improvisation with as much dedication as you have for the written literature"
In other words, there is no magic decoder ring - learn the techniques and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
There are some folks who have a natural knack for extemporization, some who do not, but nearly all musicians can learn the skills acceptably if they practice them.
Cheers,
-J
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I'm at it again...
Here's a little romantic bombast to brighten your day:
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/DelvincourtMarche.mp3
Delvincourt (1888-1954) was a student of Widor and Böellmann, and directed
the Conservatoires in Versaills and Paris. He was a good friend of Marcel Dupré,
who writes about him in his memoirs.
Delvincourt wrote 2 other pieces for organ - Méditation in Gb and Sortie de fête.
Enjoy!
- G
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Whew!
I didn't realize how much I enjoyed this forum until it was down...
Glad to see us back up and running - let's go, gents - get the discussions running again!
Thanks again to Manders for making this board possible!
Cheers,
- G
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Hello Folks,
I've been to busy to do much recording lately, but
as part of the research for my Organ Symphonie book, I've been
recording selected Symphonies that I cannot find recordings for.
I'm working on Georges Jacob's Symphonie right now, and have
finished the 3rd mvt "Scherzo"
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/Symmvt3Scherzo.mp3
You can catch mvts 1 and 2 if you missed them last time:
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/Symmvt1PF+Var.mp3
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/Symmvt2Andante.mp3
Enjoy!
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A few months ago, I suggested on this forum that there should be a website one could visit for such things and it could be filled with suggestions/observations sent in by those interested. I would happily administer such a site. Having said this, I'm not sure if there seemed to be enough interest to get the thing off the ground.
I would happily donate server space for this if someone would be willing to write up the entries - I don't have time to administrate THAT, but I'd definitely be interested. I have a list of errata in the works of Dupré...
BR,
- G
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Hello, Friends...
I'm actually making progress finally writing my book on the Organ Symphonie... I find that I have a number of examples for which I can find neither a score nor a recording, most often due to the work being unpublished.
I'd be grateful for any help tracking these works down (or failing that, at least for a description of the piece)
I'll start with Odette Allouard-Carny:(b. 1914) – Symphonie de la lumière, 1966. As far as I can tell, this piece has not been published. Henderson states that it is a 16-minute work, I've found no further information from other sources. Allouard-Carny studied with Victor-Dynam Fumet and has been organist at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Maison-Blanche in Paris.
Anyone have leads on this piece? Pierre, could you perhaps translate to French and post this on your board? (I hesitate to use Google to translate a query like this - one shudders to contemplate the result
)Regards,
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Any idea where this is published?
It is an arrrangement of a choral piece - it used to be published by Baerenreiter, not sure if it is still in print....
Cheers,
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giwro,
Yes, obviously a piece that deserves to be heard again. Can you tell us which organ the recording is on please?
Well.....
This was done on Hauptwerk software using a number of stops I've put together from various sources in an attempt to emulate the sound of a Cavaille-Coll. IMHO it's mostly successful,
although I'd wish for genuine C-C samples someday - the effect would be more convincing, I think.Cheerio,
-G
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I agree! Thanks for posting it - where do I get the score? (Like other here, I too thirst for more obscure music!)
Peter
Peter,
There is an online source for the score - you can get either a PDF or hard copy... you can also see a preview of some of the pages:
http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=816450
Glad you enjoyed the recording!
Cheers,
- G
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Alphonse Schmitt (1875-1912) was an Alsatian composer, student of Guilmant and Widor. He was organist at St. Philip-de-Roule in Paris, and composed several works for organ, including this Toccatina.
The piece really doesn't deserve such a diminutive title - it is a sparkling rollicking romp across the keys that always leaves me smiling
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/SchmittToccatina.mp3
HQ mp3 - 5.75mb
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/LQ/SchmittToccatina.mp3
LQ mp3 - 977kb
Enjoy,
- G
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-G
Thanks for this. You prompted me to dig out the little Falcinelli I have on the shelf. Cor Jesu Sacratissimum - (a chaconne) is quite good - though it looks (and sounds) like Dupre.
I agree about the miniatures - they often come across as bad Dupre (eg Cinq Chorals) . It's unfortunate that the one piece of her music that British organists are most likely to own is a very dense (texturally and harmonically) choral prelude (unbarred) which requires stretches of tenths and copious substitutions (in the same O&L volume as the Durufle Prelude a l'Introit). Rather better (though still complex) is her Prelude for Sacre-Coeur (on Adoro Te) in O&L 33 - though what its doing in a book entitled 'Neoclassic Organ' is a different question!
Let's see.... I have:
Cor Jesu Sacratissimum
Mathnavi
Litanies, Rondel et Fugue
Petit livre de Prières
La Cathédrale de L'âme
Esquisses Symphoniques
Méandres
Epure
Variations-Etudes sur une Berceuse
I've looked at several pieces in Petit livre de Prières (some are OK - some are more trouble than they're worth) Epure (veryarresting harmonies) and the Variations-Etudes (very inventive and colorful, albeit never surpassing about mf in volume.
I've got a few more pieces to order yet, and as I understand there are plans to release more of her works in the future. I should think there are about 3 hours or so available now, certainly a significant body of work that deserves further exploration.
Perhaps I'm drawn to this music because it does often resemble Dupré, and he is one of my favorite composers(!)
Cheers,
-G
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I don't know the Copeland, is it a transcription or an original organ piece? Have you met Glass's Music in Contrary Motion for Organ.?Musicroom have it but alas there are no sample pages to look at. (On which subject: does anyone know of any dealers which, like Amazon do with books, offer sight of a sample page or two of music?)
Peter
Actually, the printing service I use allows me to display as many pages as I wish in preview - for shorter works I might only give the first page - for longer I will give a page or two of each movement. I also try to give full-length recordings of ALL of the pieces in both a high quality and low quality audio file, so that prospective customers can at least hear the piece and get an idea of what it should sound like. This seems to be a very good approach, and has been well-received so far.
I've tried to encourage similar practices by traditional publishing houses - even briefly negotiated with one well-known publisher about providing the audio files in exchange for free scores, but that never materialized. There was an attitude that the idea had possible merit, but since they were still selling music without it, they felt no need to go the extra mile.
I think there will need to be serious revisions in copyright law and most of the "old school" hierarchy will need to pass to their eternal reward before we see any widespread revisions in how music is distributed.
Cheers,
-G
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I'll throw in my experiences here...
Like MM, Cynic and others I've observed on this board, I have a thirst for obscure music...
If I can't find it for sale, and I've exhausted my options with the publisher, I'll dig up a copy from a colleague, library etc. I've never come across a piece that I couldn't find eventually (albeit some have taken YEARS to track down, like the elusive Organ Symphonies of Vaubourgin and Fleuret)
I agree that traditional publishing could benefit from an on-demand system - I currently produce my stuff that way, and while I lose some profit, I don't have to spend time printing/assembling/posting scores.
I started my own company out of disgust for traditional publishers shenanigans - they all seemed to want to have complete control over my music (down to permission to re-write portions of it) and no guarantee that if it went out of print that I could regain control. When I take on a new composer, I make an agreement to take half of the net profit (what's left after production cost). The composer can ALWAYS ask to have their score removed from my catalogue and rights returned to them.
So far this has worked well and seems to be a fair way to go.... would that more companies could do the same.
Cheers,
-G
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Not negelected everywhere! link to St Sulpice:
Samedi 27 octobre – 20h 30 (Saturday, 27 October at 8:30PM)
Récital d’orgue en Hommage à Rolande Falcinelli
Daniel Roth
Roth, Dupré, Falcinelli
This is good to hear!
I _do_ know that I rarely if ever see her works in programmes over here on THIS side of the pond. Do you folks recall hearing any of her music in GB?
Cheers,
-G
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As many of you know, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the neglected composer, and have frequently sought out music that others ignore.
A few years ago, I tried to explore the music of Rolande Falcinelli, and most of what I looked at were miniatures that frankly didn't hold my attention. Recently, though, I found some scores of her larger-scale works, and have discovered therein a composer who was a worthy successor to the great French tradition. I recently purchased La Cathédrale de L'âme and Esquisses Symphoniques from Editions Delatour, complete with companion CDs upon which the composer plays the works. (with stunning virtuosity, BTW)
La Cathédrale de L'âme (the Cathedral of the Heart) is a 10-mvt suite, full of rich colors, registrations and harmonies, well worth learning. Esquisses Symphoniques is a set of 10 variations dedicated to the 1970-71 Organ class at the conservatiore, each piece utilises a theme created from the name of the student to which it is dedicated.
I've also purchased several other scores by Falcinelli, and will give my impressions of those as I have time to get to know the music better.
If you love the aesthetic of the French school, you owe it to yourself to get to know this music!
Cheers,
-G
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Hmmm....
I've never had it happen THAT way, but I've had my share of disappointments when applying for a position, and some of the attitudes I have run across are... well...
Uninformed?
I've learned now to ask early on if they are interested in someone applying from out of state - some places are only interested in getting a person close by, and even if there are folks much more qualified from further away, they settle for the "easy" route.
There is also a certain slice of the world that refuses to consider anyone who doesn't have an advanced degree and/or string of certifications. I understand this a bit more - at least it is quantifiable, but I've known chaps with NO degree that could play/lead circles around most of us. I've also known some who have a LOT of letters behind their name, and are really not that good...
~~
Sadly, there will always be situations where one is not treated fairly, be it in the hiring process or during the course of employment. I've been blessed the last 8+ years working with a supportive church and fellow staff... alas, it has not always been so... in other situations I've had my struggles, too.
My only consolation to you would be that if they would pull something like what you have described in the hiring process, it doesn't bode well for how one might be treated once employed(!)
~~
now, off to the bench for the Big Day - hope you all played well!
-G
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That's because you're a cathedral organist rather than a good human-being. You could be as rude to people as you like, and still stalk the hallowed pixels of Piporg-l.
The Americans are such academic snobs: God knows, I lived with one for four years! You know the sort....fluent in 14 languages, but eloquent in none.
MM
<chuckle>
And some of us 'Murrikans miss you on piporg-l, MM
I'm pleased and humbled that you fine chaps have kindly welcomed me to your discussion - it has been very fun getting to see an inside look at English organ culture.
We're not really that different, I just have to agree that some Americans will never appreciate nor understand your sense of humour.
Their loss!
Cheers,
-G
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Is that Albert Renaud playing the Dubois.... or the other way around?!
<chuckle>
It is indebted to both of those fine gentlemen, but still I find it a charming little piece.
Cheers,
- G
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I think Randy is such a good name.
I can imagine asking, "How do you find the clergy at your church, Randy?"
Of course, it would have to be said in the British teen-speak of to-day, which has now gone sort of quasi-Australian, with a rising tone on each last word of every sentence. This turns every statement into a question, and every answer into a rhetorical question.
I think it has something to do with excessive exposure to "Neighbours" on TV at an impressionable age.
MM
AGGGHHH!
There. You see... a perfect example of 2 countries separated by a common language
I knew I should have used his full name* instead of the nickname..
<chuckle>
-G
*RANDOLPH
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I'm pleased to present Randy's "Toccata in d" for your listening pleasure:
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/RunyonToccata.mp3
(192kbps, 5.37mb)
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/LQ/RunyonToccata.mp3
(32kbps, 931kb)
Enjoy!
-g
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Many years ago I heard a an organ concerto by Charles Chaynes. I thought it was fabulous, and am amazed and disappointed that I have never heard it again. It was similar to the Poulenc concerto in style, and I seem to recall seeing it in the UMP catalogue. I believe Marie Claire Alain used to have it in her repertoire ; I would love to hear it again if anyone knows of a recording or forthcoming performance.
M
The organ score is still available - I've searched in vain for a recording...
I'd love to hear it also.
-G
)
although I'd wish for genuine C-C samples someday - the effect would be more convincing, I think.
Back Online
in General discussion
Posted
Greetings, fellow organists!
I'm finally back online, and settling into my new post. The 2100+ mile journey was rather eventful, and I've spent the first couple of weeks trying to begin to figure out how this place operates. I relinquished my 2m 32 rk pipe organ for a 3-decker Alien... (errmm ALLEN), but gained better acoustics and a fantastic choir in the bargain. Wisconsin is much colder than S. California, too...
Now that I'm less an event producer and more of a musician, I've also spent more time at the console trying to begin the process of regaining my skills.... I've sadly discovered that my 12 years away from serious practice have resulted in 1) the loss of sightreading ability and 2) a rather horrid pedal technique. The good news is that even with only 2 weeks of more intentional practice under my belt, things are beginning to come back (albeit slowly).
I doubt I'll have much time to post for awhile yet, but as time permits I hope to spend some pleasant hours renewing the friendships I've made here on the Mander Board.
Now, off to dinner and an early bedtime - today was a long one (2nd day back on the bench!)
Cheers,
- Giwro