Month: August 2016

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Improvisation: Evening

Now that school is back in full swing, I have had a few moments to capture another recording.  Since the first six Evening Improvisations were at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery Church and the next three were at Rice, I knew it was time to make a recording on the new Jaeckel Organ at Duquesne’s Chapel.  Installation of the organ was completed last summer but I never really thought to swing by there and make a recording.  It is quite the unique instrument with aesthetics based on the writings of Charles Tournemire.

That all being said, after the visit to Houston, I knew this needed to happen.  The Monastery organ is not the best, though I am very fond of it.  For the exploration of different sorts of effects, having different instruments is necessary.  In the case of this improvisation, only 16′ stops were employed: 16′ Quintaton, 16′ Bourdon, and 16′ Soubasse for the pedals.  Only at the very end is the 32’added (I also use the thud from an earlier improvisation too).  The harmonics from the Quintaton that appear are really cool!

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Composition: Organ

The piece I present today comes from a competition that the American Guild of Organists held.  The National Convention in Houston organized a competition of preludes and postludes based on modern tunes.  As an improviser, I often treat modern tunes in old fashions.  This work is simply an ornamented chorale prelude after the style of Bach.  There are some moments that I particularly like in the work, little moments of my interests interspersed in my impression of Bach.  But the best moment happens at the very end when the B-A-C-H(Bb) appears in the final cadence.  I do not regularly try to be clever, but this one I find enjoyable.

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Composition: Organ

At the beginning of the year, I revisited several older works that I have always found attractive here and here.  Both pieces are fairly simple and do not take much time in the way of expertise, skill, or practice for that matter.  Which is fine!  Complication does not equal quality or success.  That is a fine introduction to an earlier work that is not so easy – Trio, II. Adagio.  I LOVE the Bach trios, the Rheinberger trios, and Hugo Distler’s trio.  They all contain amazing implicated harmony and clear counterpoint.  But that does not make them easy to learn or play even when one is the composer of the work itself.  The outer movements are pretty good but I absolutely adore this inner movement.  I did at one point arrange this for ensemble with two violins, cello, and organ comping.  Someday I may resurrect the arrangement!