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Denis Bedard


Martin Cooke

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Yes, very worthwhile. His music is well-written and falls under the hands and feet very nicely. A Quebecois, his Suite sur le deuxieme ton is a very effective recreation of old French versets, easy to play and not without touches of humour. Then there's the Fantasia on O Canada - an excellent riproarer. Lots of more serious stuff, too, all of it worth a look.

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The Sortie from the Suite Liturgique is quite fun - shorter pieces from other albums are quite handy to use in liturgical gaps etc. too. 'Would advise listening to some first before bulk buying though!

 

A

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I've used the Adagio, Andantino, and Suite Liturgique as voluntary material before.
I'll be playing the Variations on the Old Hundredth in a recital next month too. Great music in an approachable modern idiom, which is not too taxing to learn. I'll probably end up buying those two volumes myself at some stage, as I'm sure there's much more to explore.



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Yes, I also play a few bits of his. The 'Six Paraphrases Gregoriennes' are worth a look (easier than Jeanne Demessieux's set of eight, although perhaps not quite such profound music), and I play the sets of variations on 'Sine Nomine' and 'In Dulci Jubilo', which are both good. I might have some others lurking in the cupboard as well.

 

All Bedard I have seen comes with registration instructions for specific colours (which I quite like), and on a well-equipped instrument this can bring out some nice combinations. However, I reckon most would transfer pretty well to a modest 2-manual as well. The print is clear and prices are always reasonable - the compilations are quite pricey but will contain a lot of music for that (no French-style £20 for five minutes of music here!).

 

The only thing I'd say is that there is an awful lot of music by Bedard out there and I think if you tried to play every piece you'd get a little bored. That's not meant to be a criticism of Bedard, because I value his original and approachable compositions, but I think that originality only goes so far, if you get my drift.

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