Michael Joseph offered a workshop at St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester, NH in 2006 and was kind enough to share it on YouTube. He offers several simple tips and ideas that enable you to create simple pieces and fill time easily. I have assembled the entire series of videos below.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Rolande Falcinelli (1920 – 2006) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and teacher. She studied organ and improvisation with Marcel Dupré at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1955, she succeeded Dupré as organ professor at the Paris Conservatory, teaching there until 1987. Among her numerous students were Xavier Darasse, Louis Thiry, Yves Devernay, Francis Chapelet, André Isoir, Daniel Roth, Jean-Pierre Leguay, Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Louis Robillard, Philippe Lefèbvre, Maurice Clerc, Patrice Caire, Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet, and Naji Hakim. She also served as titular organist at Sacré-Coeur in Paris from 1946 to 1973.
You can hear her on Spotify.
Recordings:
Rolande Falcinelli: 4 Grandes Improvisations en Concert
Because notes have letter names, it is possible to generate musical themes from words or names. One of the earliest and most popular themes has been the name of one of the greatest composers of organ music: Johann Sebastian Bach. Germans use the letter B for what we call B-flat and H for B-natural, making Bach’s name into a concise chromatic motif:
Videos:
Anders Börjesson – Improvisation fugue B A C H – Mariestad Cathedral
Tomáš Ibrmajer – Organ Improvisation on B-A-C-H – Bazilika minor, Brno
Martin Látal – Improvisation on the Theme B-A-C-H – Šternberk
Tomasz Adam Nowak – Improvisation on BACH – Hauptwerk organ
Website:
http://www.julianwachner.com/
Julian Wachner currently serves as Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street in New York City and Music Director of the Washington Chorus in Washington, DC. He studied improvisation, composition, organ and theory under Gerre Hancock while a chorister at the St. Thomas Choir School in New York City and eventually earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University’s School for the Arts. He maintains an active career as conductor, composer, and performer.
Videos:
Julian Wachner – Improvisation on “Truro” (Lift Up Your Heads) – Trinity Church, Wall Street
First off, I must extend to you my apologies for not sending out a newsletter last week. I had started a draft but didn’t get to finish it before my schedule basically sent me off-line for a few days. Hopefully, the previous issues have given you plenty of ideas to work on so that you still had lots to practice!
Today, I want to focus on the short phrase that appears between variations II and III of Ives’ Variations on ‘America.’ In my experience, many times it is during transitions and interludes that organists tend to wander and the coherence of the structure tends to break down. Knowing where you need to go and taking the shortest path to get there is something we could all spend some time working at. Ives is looking to move from F major to Db major, and since he is not afraid to combine two tonalities at once, he simply shifts the left hand and pedal into Db major while leaving the right hand in F major. It may not be a very pleasing sound to our ears (especially given the otherwise very tonal surroundings), but it certainly makes for a quick transition!
With these dissonant harmonies for the interlude, what does Ives give us to facilitate the transition? Thematic material, of course! Each hand harmonizes the melody in it’s proper key with the left hand making a canon with the right hand at the distance of one measure:
The consistent thematic material gives our ear an anchor even when the harmonic language is in flux. A convincing rhythm can go a long way towards enabling the listener to accept what the improviser creates. I have told many students that if the melody and rhythm are there, slips in the harmony may go unnoticed by the typical listener. Interludes and transitions are times to charge ahead with full confidence to the next destination, not times to wander aimlessly.
One of the steps towards improvising fugues is to learn to play canons. Though Ives only gives us a little snippet here, as we are studying the piece in order to find practice ideas, I can’t let this moment go by without encouraging you to practice making canons out of the themes that you study.
The easiest way to start is with the canon at the octave where the left hand follows the right hand. Depending upon the theme, the best distance may be a measure, half-measure, one beat, or even two measures. You should practice each of these playing all the way through the theme regardless of any parallels (fifths or octaves) that are created. When you are confident playing through the theme as it is in canon, begin to consider how you could alter the rhythm or melody in order to avoid any unwanted parallels or dissonances.
When you have mastered right hand leading with left hand following, be sure and try out all the other variations available at the organ:
Depending upon the theme, you might even try a three part canon which would give you nine more options to try out (and we’re still at canon at the octave)!
Ives uses a canon at the minor sixth for his modulation interlude. Though canons most often are at the octave, fourth, or fifth, there is nothing to keep us from practicing them at any interval we wish. While the results may not be harmonically satisfying, I encourage you to try canons at all intervals. Keep the right hand in the tonic and shift the following voice (left hand or feet) through each of the twelve potential starting notes. If the starting note (for example, D) is in the tonic scale (F major), what happens to them theme if you use the tonic key signature (F major or D dorian) instead of the starting note key signature (D major)? What happens when the leading voice is in a different key with the following voice in the tonic? So many options to try!
Currently, I am preparing to run my first marathon. Anyone looking to accomplish a physical endurance task knows that you have to push your body outside it’s comfort zone if you are going to make progress towards the goal. Mental tasks require the same sort of stretching of our limits. Even if I only run a marathon once a year, training to do so, will make it easier for me to take the stairs at work, sprint across the street, or spend a day on my feet at a theme park. Likewise, practicing canons in assorted keys at different distances will give you more mental flexibility and confidence to tackle new improvisation tasks that will suddenly seem easy by comparison!
We readily acknowledge the need to practice physical technique (even scales and arpeggios). Improvisation requires not only physical skills, but mental aptitudes as well. I challenge you to challenge yourself and discover ways to move beyond your comfort zone. What can you do today to push your mental envelope?
Challenging you to find the next level,
Glenn
Recent additions to organimprovisation.com:
Newsletter Issue 14 – 2014 08 04
See the complete list of past newsletter issues here.
Sign up to receive future issues using the box to the right on this page.
This melody is attributed to Johann Crüger and was written around 1647. The German text “Nun danket alle Gott” was written in approximately 1636 by Martin Rinkart. It was translated into English in the 19th Century by Catherine Winkworth.
See a list of other chorale and hymn themes here.
Videos:
Gabriela Montero – Improvisation on “Now thank we all our God” (piano)
Johannes Schröder – Improvisation zum Auszug über ‘Nun danket alle Gott’ – Abtei Marienstatt
Sietze de Vries – Improvisation Nun danket alle Gott – Geneve
Sietze de Vries – Improvisation Nun danket alle Gott – Martinikerk, Groningen
I would dare to say that I owned the first copy of this book imported to the USA by Theodore Presser. I forget now exactly how I discovered it was in preparation, but I do remember contacting Naji Hakim directly in order to find out the publication schedule and how to order one. Improvisation method books were (and still are) such a rarity that I was very anxious to see what this modern day master would include in his text.
The Improvisation Companion is intended as a reference book for all musicians looking for a form of personal artistic expression on their instrument. While the organ is mentioned, the material is more generally related to aspects of composition (theme, development and forms) than to specific application at the organ. The two appendices cover the basic principles of harmonization and give a repertoire of themes. The title provides a very fitting description of the contents: there are no lessons or assignments here for the student to master. This is a catalog of ideas to explore and implement as the student explores the world of improvisation.
One of the most useful sections of this book is the second appendix containing themes. Hakim provides 15 themes for each of six different categories: Traditional songs, chorales, Gregorian chants, free themes, fugues, passacaglias, and literary texts. Another bonus included with the book is a CD of Hakim improvising live in concert at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL. The recording includes a choral partita, Gregorian paraphrase, passacaglia, symphony, and a fantasy on a folkloric tune.
Anyone attempting to learn to improvise from this volume would likely find it to be a very difficult art to learn without the aid of a teacher or second text. However, for a student working through another text on improvisation, this proves to be a great resource of ideas and themes. Stuck on how to develop the theme? Try one of Hakim’s suggestions in Part III. Need a theme to work on for your exercise? Look in Appendix II. The Improvisation Companion makes a great secondary volume for a student’s course of study.
Though Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart only lived for a short time, he is one of the great masters of Classical music. While he left only a small number of pieces for organ, many improvisers have set out to imitate his style at the organ. As I create (or find) instructions for ways to learn his style, I’ll add links from this page. For now, enjoy the videos from other performers and try to identify elements that you could incorporate to imitate the style of this great master.
Videos:
Gianluca Cagnani – Improvisation über ein Thema von W.A.Mozart (Allegro – Adagio – Presto)
John Riley – Overture in the style of Mozart – Paisley Abbey
John Riley – Variations on a theme by Mozart – McEwan Hall, Edinburgh
Jan Bender (1909-1994) was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands. At age 13, he moved to Lübeck, Germany, and began studying organ with Karl Lichtwark at the Marienkirche. In 1929, he studied with Walter Kraft, the new Marienkirche organist. In 1930, he enrolled as a student of Karl Straube at the Kirchen-musikalische Institut of the Landeskirche Sachsen, part of the Leipzig Konservatorium. He later studied composition from Hugo Distler. He served as organist at St. Gertrudkirche in Lübeck, St. Lambertikirche in Aurich, and Michaeliskirche in Lüneburg (where J.S. Bach had studied in his early years). He eventually came to teach in the United States at Concordia Teacher’s College in Seward, Nebraska, before becoming Associate Professor of Composition and Organ at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Though he returned to live in Germany upon his retirement in 1976, he continued teaching with occasional residencies in the US at Valparaiso University, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
He composed over one hundred works, primarily for for organ and/or choir. Though active in the Missouri Synod, he served on the commission which eventually published the Lutheran Book of Worship. He wrote a method book for organ improvisation:
Organ Improvisation for Beginners: A Book of Self-Instruction for Church Musicians : Op. 59
A full review of the method book can be found here.
Ein feste Burg is one of the best known of Martin Luther’s hymns. The words, a paraphrase of Psalm 46, and melody were written sometime between 1527 and 1529. It is strongly associated with the Reformation. The original melody was much more rhythmic, but it has been standardized into the isometric rhythm shown above.
See a list of other chorale and hymn themes here.
Videos:
Maria Scharwieß – Organ Improvisation:Ein feste Burg – Nathanaelchurch in Berlin-Schöneberg
Sietze de Vries – Ein Feste Burg improvisation – Martinikerk, Groningen
Sietze de Vries – Improvisation Ein feste Burg – Leeuwarden
