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MAB

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Everything posted by MAB

  1. Lots of very interesting points here, many of which ring bells for me. I have recently read, and been very impressed by, Roger Fisher's Masterclass which I have found most helpful. The Inner Game of Music is also full of good ideas. A lot of the following come from these two books. In no particular order ; 1 I find practicing at quarter speed invaluable, likewise, learning the music backwards. 2 Hand position is very important. Also, keep your fingers touching the keys as much as possible. 3 The older I get, the more fingers I write in, and I stick to them religiously. If a passage is insecure, it normally means that I need to alter my fingering. I explore fingering possibilities at length until I find the one that creates the least tension in the hand. This may often be quite unorthodox, but as Roger says, if it is secure and gives musical results, it is good fingering. 4 I am very open to hypnosis. I went through a phase of having bad stage fright which hypnotherapy very largely resolved. 5 Know the notes inside out. Roger F recommends picking them out with one finger. This makes a huge difference to really knowing which note comes next, even if, in the heat of the moment, your fingers drift from the practiced fingering. The important thing is that your brain knows the right note, even if your finger loses it for a moment. 6 Practicing on a dummy keyboard is very helpful. Look at every note without being distracted by the noise you are making ; is my finger bang in the middle of the key ? Am I approaching that note in the best possible way ? 7 Really work out how to use your practice time. I will often spend 90% of my time on 5% of the music. If you get the really difficult stuff sorted, the easy stuff will follow. Don't just keep playing through and hope it will get better. 8 I do not want to pour cold water on anything that works for others, but I do have reservations about playing along with someone else's recording. I agree that hearing a line in (musical) context is helpful, but I prefer to do this by harmonic analysis away from the keyboard. Quite often I will label the chords on the score so that my eye has seen, and brain assimilated, the harmony before my fingers get there. I have found that this improves my security, and sense of musical direction, greatly. (The only time I do play along to a recording is if I am learning a big accompaniment which is independent from the voices, like the Durufle Requiem. Then, hearing the organ part in context is invaluable before meeting up with the choir). 9 Finally, as I get older, I am also much more relaxed about the odd wrong note. I aim for perfection, but do not beat myself up if I do not achieve it. If I go into a performance with this state of mind, then if I make a slip, I smile and move on (which must be much better for the performance) rather than kicking myself in the head over it, which often leads to increasing tension, and more wrong notes. Vicious circle. 10 Practice, practice, practice until you cannot get it wrong. I reckon I am only now really playing pieces properly that I 'learned' as a student, 20 years ago, which often involves re - learning them much more thoroughly in maturity. Thanks to everyone for sharing these tips ; it is so helpful to know how we all cope with these difficulties. M
  2. I stand corrected ! I am only too pleased for the guidance, Jim. M
  3. Yes, I think this is all correct ; it is a good piece, although it is not as concise as it might be, but it needs a lot of slow and careful practice to get everything in the right place at the right time. It is physically very awkward at points, and I am not sure there is any easy way round that. If I remember rightly it is dedicated to Marcel Dupre's father Albert, sometime organist of St Ouen, Rouen. No doubt someone will correct me if I have remembered this wrong. I think he was definitely a 'one hit wonder'. It has been fashionable for the past few years, and I played it a lot around 10 years ago, including at a couple of friends weddings, but have not done so since. Perhaps I should dust it off again. Whenever I played it in church, my vicar said it reminded him of Rodgers and Hammerstein - I can see his point. I first heard it on a recording from Blackburn Cathedral ; the ending was just glorious on that organ. It was recently re - published by UMP after quite a long time out of print, but I seem to remember the score was rather expensive for 'just another toccata'. Another piece in the same category that I have always meant to learn is the 'Toccata de la Liberation' by Leonce de Saint Martin - a slightly naff piece by someone who never wrote anything else worth the name, which audiences like, and which has been recorded by Dame Gillian and Jane Parker - Smith. Does anyone play this one ? Is it worth the effort ? M
  4. MAB

    Set Free

    Sorry that I cannot help you, Cynic, on the Set Free problem, but I just wanted to add my tuppeny worth on SCOPE. I onlyonce played an organ with a SCOPE system, and hated every minute. In theory, it is brilliant because you can programme any piston to do anything you want, so the piston for exactly the right combination is under your hand at exactly the right position when you want it. In practice, you are left with a console with too many pistons, each one of which has a competely random setting. I found that when setting up my combinations, I quickly forgot which pistons were already set, and which were free, whilst when playing the piece in performance, was never quite sure which piston to press next. At least with general pistons you work through a clearly logical system whcih exactly matches your progress through the piece. If you can add a stepper to a multi - channel system you have, for my money, the perfect balance of simplicity, logic and sophistication. Of course, the other point to make is that the one organ I played with SCOPE (which had better remain nameless) was a complete and utter heap, which did not help matters. M
  5. Thank you, particularly to Jonadkins, for this feedback. I am bound to say that this is rather as I expected. If you have not heard much of a composer's music, or there is only one piece commonly played, I find that it is usually for a good reason. Also, and without, admittedly, having heard them, I was rather uneasy about a composer who writes a Hommage a Messiaen, only to follow it with a Hommage a Durufle, and then a Hommage a Takemitsu. Why doesn't he stop paying homage to all these people and just write some good stuff himself ? M
  6. Last week I went to a splendid lunchtime recital by Peter Wright. He finished his programme with the partita on 'Nun freut euch' by Lionel Rogg. To be honest, I was not expecting a great deal from the piece, but it turned out to be wonderful ; well crafted, a really distinct musical language (although with echoes of Hindemith) and appealing for the listener. I am looking forward to learning it myself. One reason I was (pleasantly) surprised by the piece was that the only Rogg I had heard before were his 'Deux etudes'. These are played more widely nowadays, although I am bound to say that on the one occasion I heard them performed, they made little impression on me. I would like to find out more about Lionel Rogg's compositions. Does anyone play more of his music, and can anyone recommend other good stuff to look at ? Regards, M
  7. The reference to Paris reminds me of one particular 'magic moment'. My mother died in March 1997, relatively young and after a terrible illness. A few months later, very low but desperately in need of some time by myself, I spent a week in Paris seeing all the sights and visiting many of the Ile de France cathedrals within reach of the city. My last day was a rainy Sunday. I went to both the morning and evening masses at Notre Dame to hear the organ. After the evening mass, Philippe Lefevre was improvising, building to the most awe - inspiring climax. My one disappointment was that the lights in the cathedral were still on and the sun was behind the clouds, both of which meant that the stained glass windows could not be seen properly. Just as the music reached its thunderous climax, and purely by coincidence I am sure, all the lights in the cathedral went out and the sun burst through the windows. The death of my mother was one of the few periods in my life when I totally lost my faith. That magic moment in Notre Dame marked a turning point though, and the beginning of my coming back to my faith and to life. M
  8. Thank you - I think I understood enough of that to work out how to try and correct it. Many thanks ! M
  9. Sorry to take this thread off on a slightly different tack, but can I just raise two queries on Audacity as the subject has been mentioned. Following recommendations on this board, I have started to use Audacity and agree that, by and large, it is very easy to use and gives effective results. It is certainly streets ahead of the Sound Forge programme that nearly drove me to drink. However, I keep having two problems and wondered if anyone could offer solutions. First, when I record my input (usually off a mini - disc recorder), the result always comes out a semitone too low. I can correct this by pushing the whole track up a semitone on the 'adjust pitch' menu, but am I doing something wrong here ? Second, sometimes when I record, parts of the recording come out sounding 'shaky'. Generally this is on louder music rather than softer - has that got something to do with it ? Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Many thanks, M
  10. MAB

    Henri Mulet

    Hear, hear. I know that feathers are occasionally ruffled on the board - all part of the fun - but Cynic's generosity is the finest example of the friendly and collegiate spirit of this group. I have thanked you privately, Paul, but can I take this opportunity to record my thanks again in the open forum of the board. M
  11. MAB

    Henri Mulet

    Paul - Many thanks indeed for this. I think I was the one who started the discussion last year about Mulet and the Esquisses Byzantines, and was on the list of people to whom you - very kindly - offered this unpublished material. I will attempt to send you an e mail off the board (I am not terribly good at this sort of thing) and would be delighted and grateful to receive the copies. I would gladly send you any rarities in reply, although I do not really think I have anything that is not in your already comprehensive library ! Kind regards, Mark B
  12. Brilliant. : Any other limericks anyone ?
  13. Which leads me to muse, that There was a young man called Durufle Who was forced into wearing a toupee. Whilst his Suite Opus 5 Brought his music alive, His hair could no longer be coupe (Afraid my computer cannot do the accents). M
  14. I didn't catch it, but I remember that a couple of years ago someone chose as his special subject 'the life and works of Maurice Durufle'. I was rather pleased that, having never studied Durufle in any particular detail, and just picked it up as I went along, I was able to answer just one less question correctly than the contestant managed. The one pub - quiz fact about Durufle that I have subsequently learned is that, apparently, he wore a toupee. I was told that as young man he had some sort of electro - magnetic treatment for a condition which had the regrettable side effect of causing him to lose his hair. This makes sense when you look at photographs of him. All best, M
  15. MAB

    Transcriptions

    I seem to remember that last year Roger Fisher gave a recital in his home studio with its splendid 3 manual pipe organ and baby grand piano, with Roger playing the solo part of a couple of Mozart concertos (concerti ?) and Philip Rushforth playing the orchestral parts on the organ. Also, I think that last year Roger Sayer and Wayne Marshall gave a similar concert at Rochester Cathedral with Roger playing the orchestral parts of the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue on the organ, with Wayne Marshall playing the piano downstairs. M
  16. MAB

    Transcriptions

    Paul, Could you be very kind and let me know the publisher of that book ? I have tried to find it on Google, without success. Just to finish the Star Wars theme, after my last posting, five minutes googling and an e mail got me in touch with Robert Edward Smith in America - a great harpsichordist and Bach scholar - who did the transcription of John Williams score for the CD. He was the soul of charm and courtesy in his reply. He explained that he was commissioned to write the transcription by Warners, but the terms of the licence were extremely narrow. He was to transcribe the score for that recording alone, after which any licence to perform the transcription was revoked, so his transcription cannot be published (he no longer knows where it is) or performed by anyone else. This seems very short - sighted. Having, as I say, watched all of the films now several times over the past few months, there is a great deal of superb music in them and an organ suite could be extremely effective. I would happily make one myself - the Cantina Band sequence would work fantastically well - except life is short, and clients in the office and a 6 year old at home seem to swallow up all my time. On a similar subject, last weekend I took my little boy to a children's concert by the Guildford Philharmonic with a 'Dr Who' theme. It was a good idea, well presented, with a quite a lot of worthy but slightly dull music. To be honest, the best piece in the concert by a mile was the John Williams suite from Jurassic Park. Best regards, Mark B
  17. Thanks again for the very helpful material that continues to be advanced by my original question. In particular, that Zoom H2 seems a jolly nifty piece of kit. Hmmm. Perhaps I deserve a late Christmas present. M
  18. Thank you to everyone for these very helpful contributions. M
  19. I hope I am not going to infringe any of the house rules in starting this topic, and will not be offended if the Moderator points out any such breach to me, but I wonder if anyone on this board has experience of 'do it yourself' recordings and can recommend user - friendly editing software for my computer. My apologies in advance if I get any of the technical stuff wrong. I am occasionally asked to make recordings of myself on CD. This is not for any professional purpose ; sometimes friends and family are kind enough to ask for a recording of a recital of mine, or I am asked to provide a CD of my playing when asking for a recital in a slightly more up - market venue. I record myself on a Sony minidisc recorder, which is not of hi - fi quality, but it gives very acceptable results for my purposes. Slightly to my surprise, this actually gives an analogue signal output, but I have managed to find the correct connector and sound card to enable my computer to process the incoming signal as digital. This is where the problem starts. I used to record onto my laptop (Sony Vaio) which did not have a dedicated audio programme, but using the soundtrack of the video programme. This could then be converted into the appropriate file type and burned onto CD, giving an acceptable result. However, this did not allow for any editing, so was less than ideal if I wanted to present my playing in a more or less finished form. I thought that I could do better than this and looked around for a proper audio editing and processing software program for use on my new PC and bought Sony Sound Forge. I have found this an exceptionally frustrating program to work with ; as with other Sony products, whilst they produce excellent hardware, I find that the instruction manual is either unintelligible or, where it is intelligible, just wrong. After endless hours of pulling my hair out, I have not managed to produce one remotely acceptable recording on the program and am minded to bin the whole thing and start again. Can anyone more computer literate than me suggest either a simple way in which I can achieve what I want with what I have already got, alternatively, recommend a simple program that does what it says on the tin without causing me a nervous breakdown. Any help would be greatly appreciated. M
  20. Martin, I wouldn't put too much money on that bet ; Kevin Bowyer recently played the entire collection, including Holiday Trumpets, in his Glasgow series. 'Pageant' was quite fashionable around 15 years ago ; I remember Jane Parker -Smith, Gillian Weir and Thomas Trotter all playing it at the RFH within the space of a few years, although Thomas Trotter refers to it as 'junk music'. I also remember enjoying a recording of the Symphony from a recital given by Gillian Weir at the Crystal Cathedral at about the same time ; what I enjoyed was the utter vulgarity of a performance that just kept GETTING LOUDER AND LOUDER AND LOUDER .... Which leads me off at a slightly different tangent. Kevin Bowyer plays and records so much, it slightly begs the question of whether all of that music is really of the first order. Compare that to Keith John who once observed (rather foolishly, in my view) that the reason he played so many transcriptions for the organ was that the original organ repertoire 'contained so little good music'. May I suggest that the truth lays somewhere between those two positions ? Is that hornet's nest I can suddenly hear ? Best regards, M
  21. When I was organist of All Saints Tooting, we prided ourselves on the size and magnificence of our organ (fnarr fnarr). Despite this, a visiting, very earnest, German student looked at it and remarked that 'it's not very big'. Our then churchwarden, who did a nice line in Kenneth Williams campery replied that 'we have never had any complaints'. How we laughed. M
  22. I remember this recording well ; it was one of the first serious organ recordings I discovered as a teenager, and was deeply instrumental (no pun intended) in my catching the 'organ bug'. The photograph on the front was wonderful for a young organ enthusiast. Austin looked very sharp in a white jacket and 70s long hair. If I remember rightly, the recording was produced by Brian Culverhouse and the programme was ; Toccata Adagio & Fugue in C Reger Toccata and Fugue in d minor Franck Final Dupre B major prelude and fugue. and something else ? Thank you for bringing us up to date on Michael's career - I was dimly aware that he had retreated to Denmark - and for catapulting me back 30 years in time. Those were the days ! M
  23. St Michael's Croydon is indeed vertiginous, likewise St Mary's Brighton with its Bevington organ in a high gallery. It is not just the height that makes you feel a bit queasy, but the closeness of the bench to the drop, and the comparatively low level of the wall behind you when you play. Westminster Cathedral is high up, and there is very little room behind the bench, but you feel fairly closed in and secure. The organ of La Madeleine in Paris is very high up, and the console is set out on a platform springing out of the organ case. There is a railing round the edge, but the platform is very narrow, and I felt distinctly uneasy approaching the low balustrade. It is a long way down ! Other than this, the most dizzying experience I have had in a cathedral was actually climbing the tower of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. As you approach the top, you go up a stone staircase winding round the outside of the bell chamber. The combination of the vast space, the low wall, and the enormous drop beneath made me hold on to the handrail and press against the wall very hard indeed. I used to sing with a now famous Cathedral organist when he ran our parish church choir. He used to suffer badly from vertigo and I know it stopped him playing on at least one or two occasions. I always remember visiting New York with him on a choir tour. In an heroic attempt to overcome his vertigo by the 'kill or cure' method, he very bravely went on to the rooftop of the World Trade Centre and walked round, clutching his wife hard. It is the only time in my life I have seen anyone look, literally, green with sickness and fear. M
  24. ps. to my last post I am sure I have told the story elsewhere of the American princess who spent 6 hours in consultation with me trying to choose music, changed her mind on the day, and a singer strolled up to me during the signing of the register and asked me to accompany her - completely news to me. For all this, I was paid £30. The flowers in the church off Sloane Square were flown in, with a floral designer, from Florence and cost about £15,000. What amused / annoyed me perhaps more was a performance of the Faure Requiem at my old church, directed by the then director of music in the scaled down John Rutter orchestration. I played the organ. My name was not listed on the programme, I was not invited to the front to share the curtain call taken by, for example, soprano and cello soloist. It was not worth getting upset about, but it did strike me as a telling example of how we are regarded. Obviously, organists are never important, particularly when they are doing that piddling continuo stuff that is such an irrelevant part of the performance. M
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