innate Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 I’d love to hear from organists that have found good, musically convincing, cuts in this popular Wedding prelude. I think I need it to last about 2 minutes; and I probably play it at a less than virtuosic tempo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Dods Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 I haven't got my copy to hand, but I often play it from a manuals only book to be more Handelian (or that's my excuse). Something like this: https://ks4.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/c/ce/IMSLP04566-Arrival_of_Queen_of_Sheba.pdf Playing to the end of the second bar on the bottom system of the first page and then picking it up later. In this copy maybe at the third bar top system of the last page. This also looks like a decent edition: https://ks.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/72/IMSLP130565-WIMA.1062-Handel_60_Solomon2_Sinfonia.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd y Garreg Wen Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 For that timing I think I’d probably play to the end of b.42 then go back to the start, ending in b.16 but incorporating the melody as it is in the final bar (b.89). That gives a reasonable ABA structure, and includes enough of the two-part oboe stuff to ensure that people won’t feel short-changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 Thank you both, Dafydd and Jonathan for your helpful suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd y Garreg Wen Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 You’re most welcome. Incidentally, if this is a final piece (and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be - the “arrival” idea was just a flight of fancy on Beecham’s part) I often find it’s too short. In that case I just nip back from the end of the penultimate bar to b.16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrabombarde Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I was once asked to play this for the bridal entrance by a couple who liked it so much they wanted me to play the whole piece and just keep going until the end knowing they would be at the altar by the time the natural "shortened" stopping point had been reached. As it was in a cathedral the walk down the aisle was already quite long enough. Somewhat nerve-racking, given that I rarely play the whole piece, and the middle bit is probably rather harder than the cheating shorter version! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate Posted August 4, 2021 Author Share Posted August 4, 2021 Contrabombarde—I know exactly how that felt! I did a 2 minute version and it was still too long. The next day I heard Anna Lapwood relate that she once played it at the start of a wedding—she could see the West End and the East End from the console but not the middle bit of the bride’s route. She’d worked out the length of music that was needed and started when she got the signal from the clergy. At the end she could see no sign of the bride. So she played it again. Still no sign of the bride. And a third time. Turned out the bride had stopped halfway for photos!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate Posted August 4, 2021 Author Share Posted August 4, 2021 Sorry, I meant to say that Anna was talking on BBC Radio 3: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000n6bt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 At a church I play for. I used to play to bar 16. On the Bb (beat 3) I went to the middle of bar 6 (beat 3). repeat until bar 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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