What organ pieces are we all learning at the moment. Doesnt matter what grade or level.

Im learning the P+F on B.A.C.H by Liszt what have I let myself in for!

Le Jardin Suspendu by Alain - Though its easy, I would like to be able to play all of Alain's 'Trois Pieces' (I can play the litanies)

The first of Bachs Trio Sonatas - the one in Eb Major


Now over to you...

I'm learning:

Bach "Christ lag in Todesbanden"
Buxtehude "Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist"
Bridge Lento from the grade 6 list

....plus hymns, hymns, hymns .....

Bit of a varied pot for me atm

Concert Overture in C Minor by A. Hollins

Prelude and Fugue in A (BWV 536) - J.S. Bach

Chorale-Fantasia on Wachet Auf - Karg-Elert

Les Angels from La nativite - Messiaen.

The Hollins is nearly done though... might move onto the C# Minor Organ Sonata by Harwood next. I do like vulgar english romantic stuff!

other than brushing up the entire programme for college auditions. I am learning:

Stanford's Fantasia and Toccata in D minor (won't take me long)
Eben's Hommage to Buxtehude
Messiaen's Transports de joie
Buxtedude's Prelude and Fugue in G minor BuxWV 149 (easy!)

will pick up the Liszt's B-A-C-H later....

okay, need a bit help here. Could anyone suggest good pieces for FTCL.

Some interesting lists there:
-if you like the Hollins C minor, you'll love the C major
-I'm glad some else has some Eben there, the I bought the Hommage to Bux and Purcell last year, but I think I still prefer the Buxtehude
-can you post a link to the FTCL list and I'll share some thoughts (though it is 20 years since I did it)


At the moment, learning for the first time:

-four of the Sakskøbing Præludier (Naji Hakim)
-the Stokowski version of a transcription of Country Gardens (Grainger)

Refreshing for upcoming concert in Weymouth, Orb and Sceptre & Anniversary Fanfare (Walton/Gower)

Brushing up a whole load of transcriptions for a recording next year; including the Walton, Die Fledermaus Overture, movements from Carnival of the Animals, bits from the Nutcracker and some Elgar


This is my final fling with transcriptions!!

Guilmant, have you looked at the Mckie (OUP) transcription of orb and sceptre? It's the more 'famous' one and possibly does the piece more justice. I don't know about difficulty levels though... waltons rhythms get me!

I don't know the C major unfortunatly... i'll have a look on the rochester score site - it has lots of hollins

Glad to hear that you are learning Eben's Homage to Buxtehude. Like guilmant, I prefer this over Homage to Purcell. I am thinking of learning this myself later this autumn, after I finish some of my current pieces.

For FTCL pieces, perhaps you can look into the FRSM syllabus to get an idea.

trinity might not necessarily accept FRSM pieces. I play the Demessieux Te Deum and Eben's Moto Ostinato (playing both for college auditions). Also planning to learn some more Dupre and Vierne on the list etc etc.


for the FTCL syllabus: http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=1554 (click on the diploma in music: performance and teaching, the organ syllabus is on pg.29)

I wanted to keep the Alain's Suite and Bach's 532. I don't mind playing the Reger, but it will be a bit of a pain and struggle.

The McKie is much harder, though I must confess I use some of the McKie bits and some of my own incorporated into the Gower arrangement. The Gower also has the advantage of coming in an excellent book of other transcriptions by Walton. The Fanfare I transcribed to play before it was composed by Walton for the 75th anniversary of EMI (I think?) and it quotes Happy Birthday at the end of it, with very little subtelty!!

Copies of the C major Hollins are a little tricky to find.

Its quite an odd list, only three pieces on the list, and you don't even have to choose any of them! When I did it, it was four pieces; any piece by Bach/Buxte, any major Romantic piece, a British 20th century piece, and a non British 20th century piece.

So if I were doing it and using the ALain and the Bach (both of which are good pieces), I'd be looking for something meaty and romantic for the other piece. Options here; well I did the Rheinberger F major Sonata for the FTCL, but how about Guilmant? They might not accept No.1 in D minor (as it used to be on the LTCL list), but No.5 is an even better piece, and No.8 in A is worth considering. English music, I would stay clear of the Stanford sonatas, but the Harwood, Bairstow (scherzo was on the FRCO list), Howells and Whitlock are worth playing. I'm wondering how they would view one of the Whitlock Suites (eg Plymouth, ones on Psalm verses etc).

If you consider Mendelssohn, then No's 1, 3 and 4 would certainly be difficult enough, though they are a little shorter. Then of course, there's Widor, but the only two I would think about doing in an exam (as the regulations say you have have to do a whol sonata, not just movements) are 4 and 6.

Hows that to be getting on with?

I would have thought that you could recycle your audition list as well.

A lot of work but its a fantastic piece of music to play...absoloutely wondurful!

You do realise for the 2009 syllabus onwards you can have all 'own choice' repertoire? (Previously you had to have one of the set list at least)

A friend of mine is doing it in the spring with: Hindy 1, Franck 2 and Bach 542

Bach: bwv661 Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland (the organo pleno version)
Bridge: Adagio in E
Walton: Popular Song
(ie. a rather nice G7 programme though it took me a while to see the music above the notes in the Bach)
Franck: Prelude, Fugue + Variation
Bergeois: Serenade
[Howells: Psam Prelude No1, Paean
Durufle: fugue sur le carillon etc - all 3 are dependant on finding a suitable organ]

Good luck to your "friend" for his FTCL

I'll pass on your kind words to him - I'm sure he'll be very grateful for your support. Thanks!

Didn't he do Hindemith I for his FRSM too, or is my memory letting me down?

I know he is a fan of recycling - it's the in thing, apparently...

i would love to recycle the Demessieux's Te Deum. It is one of my favourite piece. Rheinberger will be out of the question, for my tutor cannot stand his music (no offense).

I think I'll talk to my organ tutor about it on our next lesson. hm....

No offence taken, I have no long term plans with Rheinberger, in fact, I've bearly played either of the sonatas of my youth since (the E flat minor was fun in places!)

A number of years back I was quite taken with Rheinberger's organ compositions for a couple of months or so. But then it dawned on me that, despite Harvey Grace's terrific (and rather mis-placed) enthusiasm, Rheinberger takes a long time to say very little. There are only a couple of movements from the sonatas I still play nowadays.

Don't know enough to comment on Rheinberger's oeuvre. However, his counterpoint seems very good.

Yes, I agree. There's a nice scherzo in A minor I used to play, in 3/4, is it from the E minor sonata.

By counterpoint being very good, I can see what you mean. I think I would describe it as being correct and well-worked, without being inspiring and having a little touch of the unexpected every now and then. Even the ingenuity of the double fugue in the F sonata, still leaves me a little cold.

However, I did once give a concert with a flautist and we played movements from a Rheinberger suite for Violin and Organ and they went down well, and the organ concertos have a certain charm about them.

Great minds think alike, Guilmant! That's one of the two pieces I still play.



Absolutely.

i like the hindemith sonata (no.1).

just wondering, do you really have to take the FTCL in london, even for the organ, surely that will be difficult.

For organ I'm told they will do an examiner visit. Check with the college for further details.

Yup, I seem to remember two examiners visited to do the practical exam.

For the anoraks, this is the organ I did the FTCL on, and this is the rather better one I did the LTCL on. (It did a rather good Guilmant 1, if I do say so myself.)

Do you play Guilmant 8?

Yes and no. I've got a copy and played the scherzo in public. Sort of half learned the outer movements. Its worth listening to Ian Tracey on Chandos playing the orchestra and organ version. He's also done Guilmant 1 for organ and orchestra and a couple of the Widor arrangements with orchestra as well.

I've had a play through all the sonatas; 1 and 5 are the best complete works, and 8 is OK, but I'd give the others a wide berth.

hm... i seriously need to work hard to get more repertoire done. but college auditions come first at the moment.

i really hope i get to sit the FTCL at Manchester Cathedral (since i sat the LTCL there as well).

Best of luck with the college auditions!

Just wondering: How do you manage to work on so many pieces all at once? For myself, I find it impossible to deal with more than 30-40 minutes of repertoire each week. Maybe I am overly picky with my own playing.

i spent march till july this year just working on the audition programme. with a break in the summer, all i need to do is to brush them up (my organ tutor said my pieces are really really good, but still need a bit of brushing up). i am also very picky on my own playing, it can take me forever to polish a piece, but i guess i learn things quite quickly and practise loads. that's the way forward.

I seem to learn the notes quickly, but unlike piano repertoire, it takes me forever to polish my organ repertoire, not to mention to commit any of it to memory.

Currently working on:

Guy Weitz: Symphony No.1

Henri Mulet: Rosace (from Esquisses Byzantines)

Naji Hakim: Ouverture Libanaise

The stuff I'm learning is all at a much lower level than everyone else's.

J.S. Bach - Sei gegrüsset chorale & variations 1-4
attrib. Bach - Prelude & Fugue in C (from 8 Short)
Bach/Vivaldi - Adagio from A minor concerto
Sibelius - Sorgmusik
RVW - Rhosymedre
Bruhns - Praeludium in e
Tomkins - Voluntary in D
Couperin - Fugue sur la Trompette
Elgar - Vesper Voluntary no. 6
Lang - Tuba Tune
Vierne - Berceuse

And, out of that lot, I've only got two things that I can play semi-passably. :-(

...er, except mine...

Well, the Sibelius is from the same list as the Bridge you're doing, but I'm struggling with it.
A hefty chunk of what I'm trying to learn at the moment is from the g5 syllabus and I'm not getting very far with any of that either.
The Bach/Vivaldi Adagio is in AMT book 2, which makes it roughly grade 2 standard.

What d'you think of the Bridge? I've got that book kicking around somewhere, but I've been trying not to start any more pieces until I finish some of this lot, or they'll take even longer. (Is there anything longer than an eternity??)

...I wish I could tackle more than a few pieces at once! I like the Bridge - as a gentle, abstract sort of piece it's rather nice to play, but I haven't done much organ management since I started learning & so have only just sorted out the crescendos & diminuendos - apart from that, there are a couple of (for me) tricky fingerings but my teacher helped me with those last lesson. If you find the book, I'd give it a go, as I'm sure you'd be able to learn it quite quickly.

I'm intrigued by the Weitz. I had a friend who went on endlessly about the music, but I must confess, I know very little about him or the music.

Good to see someone else doing a bit of Hakim! The new CD from Glenalmond College on Signum is worth hearing, very good.

It's much better NOT to do lots of pieces at the same time. I know I'd make faster progress overall if I was disciplined enough to stick to just 2 or 3 pieces until I'd got them sorted out. But there are so many different things I want to play and I have no willpower... :-(

Organ management isn't my strong point either and the fact the Bridge is set for g6 means I don't think I could learn it quickly at all. Plus crescendos and diminuendos are awkward as the expression pedals on my practice instrument are weird*, so I don't like using them. I've discovered that teachers are not very happy if you say that you never touch the swell pedal when practicing...

* Much higher above the pedalboard than on other organs I play, much wider angle of rotation and the speakers make an annoying "wind whistling through a chimney" sort of noise if I do anything with them.

i played the Bridge when i sat my grade 6, lovely piece. was nearly always in tears when i practised (the beauty of the music, not struggling with the playing!!!).

Why would any organist cry at the console? Apart from a strained hamstring in a Trio Sonata, perhaps...

Erm, I think I once did during the funeral of a small child.

....and mine

I've been learning something out of the Green book15 (Peters? Novello? can never be bothered to look at the name on the front when I grab it) I thnk it is BWV 606 but I wouldn't like to swear to it.
And another couple of things on the grade 6 list.

The trouble is, there is always something else that has to be learnt for a forthcoming service or wedding and the exam stuff goes on the back burner.

One day I too shall gaily toss off the names of the heavyweights in my repertoire but I think I shall be very old indeed before that happens.

Mel

Or finding himself having to play a tonne of the worst-ever happy-clappies?



Joking aside, it was a number of years ago that I shed a few tears at the organ console during a funeral for a baby who was only a few days old, and had died of utter neglect. That was the only time I've ever wept whilst playing at a funeral. Without going into the distressing details - which I remember vividly - the child's parents should never have been allowed to have children.

[quote name='guilmant' date='Oct 2 2008, 12:47 PM' post='747018']

[/quote]

I'm intrigued by the Weitz. I had a friend who went on endlessly about the music, but I must confess, I know very little about him or the music.

Good to see someone else doing a bit of Hakim! The new CD from Glenalmond College on Signum is worth hearing, very good.
[/quote]

Yes, this is the first piece I've tried by Hakim - probably not the easier one to start with though. There's some rather large chords and some rather deft footwork going on there - certainly one for the energetic crowd!

As for the Weitz - another tricky one. I ordered this score along with some of the others (In Paradisum, Grand Choeur, Sicilienne, Fanfare and Gothic March) - which are considerably easier. Weitz seems to like contrasting rhythms (eg.quavers vs. triplets) which are my pet hate - but it's really thrilling music.

What would you recommend of the Weitz pieces? Rough length/difficulty/selling points?

I'd like to try something by Hakim, though I feel that his music isn't very well-known here in the USA.
What would guilmant and other expert organists recommend?

Here's the lowdown on the Weitz pieces I have:

Grand Choeur - probably the most audience friendly, very grand and not repetitive like the similarly titled works by Guilmant and the suchlike. It's about 4 minutes long, so a good length for a service postlude, and a great chance to dust down a solo chorus reed. The main difficulty is where the theme develops into a toccata near the end but this should be fairly manageable. You can hear it on a past pipedreams programme here: http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2000/2041/

Sicilienne - this is an easy-going charming work which is probably the easiest of the lot, apart from some jumps in the pedal. Very reminiscent of the Pastorale from Vierne's 1st. About same length as Grand Choeur.

In Paradisum - very slow and not particularly difficult, but rather dark and audiences might not warm to it. Builds to two impressive climaxes and dies down to nothing at the end. Haven't played it yet but I would imagine it to be a good 6 minutes or more.

Fanfare and Gothic March - I think this piece is quite an effective one. The opening Fanfare section could easily be used alone to herald an occasion, as could the Gothic March be used alone. Not overly difficult but there are some tricky places especially towards the end. Roughly service postlude length as well.

Symphony No.1 - a real blockbuster. The opening movement, Regina Pacis is a rather grand opening, but never tiring to the ear. Very exciting stuff. The second, Mater Dolorosa as you can imagine, is a mournful movement, tricky in one or two places but ends on a quiet note in the major key on the strings. Stella Maris, the third movement, is a wonderfully exciting toccata which isn't really as difficult as it looks and could stand well on it's own. The entire work lasts roughly 15-20 minutes. I can send an Mp3 recording from my computer if anyone is interested.

I am working on

- Gigout's Toccata (nearly finished, just getting the trickier sections 100 % secure)

- The famous Mendelssohn wedding march from Midsummer Night's Dream

- Mendelsson Air and Variations in D (just started)

I am also "maintaining" my grade 7 pieces for the exam in December:

- Bach Ach Bleib Be Uns

- Bridge Adagio in E

- Arro Contrasts no 4 and 5