Regina Caeli

August 15, 2014 by Improviser

One of four Marian Antiphons sung at vespers, this chant is normally used during the season of Easter.

See a list of other chant themes here.

Videos:
Eric Dalest – Improvisation on ‘Regina Caeli’ – Aubagne
Olivier Latry – Sortie on ‘Regina Caeli’ – Notre Dame, Paris
Pablo Márquez – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ – Nicolaasbasiliek, Amsterdam
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ (1/2) – Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Frascati (Rome)
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ (2/2) – Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Frascati (Rome)

Adoro te devote

July 13, 2014 by Improviser

Adoro te devote is a Eucharistic hymn written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) at Pope Urban IV’s (1261-1264) request when the Pope first established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. The chant melody in Mode V potentially dates from the first millennium.

Videos:
Robert York – Improvisation on ‘Adoro te devote’ – St. Sulpice, Paris

O Filii et Filiae

July 6, 2014 by Improviser

This melody dates to the Fifteenth century and was very popular in France. The original nine verse Latin hymn was written by Jean Tisserand, OFM (d. 1494). It was assigned to the celebration of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Easter Sunday. While the triple alleluia was only to be sung at the beginning and ending, it has become a persistent refrain after each verse in most modern hymnals. The irregularity of the word stress may also have contributed to the great variety of rhythmic variations in the tune.

See a list of other chant themes here.
See a list of other hymn tunes here.

Videos:
François-Henri Houbart – Improvised Sortie on ‘O Filii et Filiae’ – La Madeleine, Paris
Jonathan Y. Tan – Postlude on ‘O Filii et Filiae’ – Grace Episcopal Church, Cincinnati
Bert Rebergen – Entree Improvisation “O Filii et Filiae” – St. Lambertus Castrop-Rauxel

Jesu dulcis memoria

June 29, 2014 by Improviser

Jesu dulcis memoria is a hymn often attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux. The original poem, depending on the manuscript, ranges from forty-two to fifty-three stanzas. Three sections of it are used as hymns in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus: “Iesu dulcis memoria” (Vespers), “Iesu rex admirabilis” (Office of Readings), “Iesu decus angelicum” (Lauds).

Several English hymns sung today are based on translations of Jesu dulcis memoria. These include “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts” (1858 translation by Ray Palmer) and “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” (1849 translation by Edward Caswall).

Veni Sancte Spiritus

June 22, 2014 by Improviser

Veni Sancte Spiritus is a sequence prescribed in the Roman Liturgy for the Masses of Pentecost and its octave, excluding the following Sunday. It is usually attributed to either the thirteenth-century Pope Innocent III or to the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton. Veni Sancte Spiritus is one of only four medieval sequences which were preserved by the Council of Trent in the Missale Romanum published in 1570.

The chant is in the Dorian mode.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Video:
Pierre Cochereau – Choir of Notre Dame sings ‘Veni Sancte Spiritus’ – Paris
Clint Kraus – Improvisation on Veni Sancte Spiritus – St. James Cathedral, Seattle, WA

Jeffrey Brillhart – Breaking Free

June 21, 2014 by Improviser

Jeffrey Brillhart
Breaking Free: Finding a Personal Voice for Improvisation through 20th Century French Improvisation Techniques. Published by Wayne Leupold Editions.

One of the great difficulties I see in the teaching of improvisation is choosing where to begin and how to cover the wealth of material that a well-trained improviser needs to know. Whereas Gerre Hancock focuses almost entirely on form throughout his book Improvising: How to Master the Art, the bulk of the material in Breaking Free concerns harmonic language.

Jeffrey Brillhart attacks the challenge of what to cover and where to begin by narrowing the focus to “finding a personal language for organ improvisation through 20th century French Improvisation techniques,” the subtitle of the book. In the Introduction, Brillhart acknowledges that each student’s route to mastery is different:

There is no “one size fits all,” in learning to improvise or in teaching someone to improvise. What may work for one student may completely stymie another student.
…
Improvisation is a mystery. We do not fully understand what happens within the mind of the improviser while improvising. Improvisation is a search. It is a search for a personal musical language. It is a search for musical coherence. It is a search for personal self-expression. It is a search for beauty.

Breaking Free is a book filled with ideas for the student to explore. The first part (chapters 1-5) provides a philosophical grounding of improvisation and establishes the importance of the theme. Many example themes are given and chapter 4 is a catalog of development techniques. Any advice or examples provided are always accompanied by the encouragement of the student to find his or her own solution for how to treat the theme.

Part II (chapters 6-15) move into harmonic language and provides a framework not of scales, but intervals. Each chapter is devoted to a different interval (fifths, fourths, thirds, seconds, and so forth) and the harmonic colors that can be generated while using that specific interval to either harmonize or accompany the given theme. The pentatonic mode is also introduced and the student is urged to explore canons in this mode because of the harmonic simplicity the mode offers. Triads and seventh chords are also given their own chapters in this part, and while there may be references to key centers in the text, the student is encouraged to explore the textures without the restriction that a scale or specific mode would require.

Part III (chapters 16-20) begins with a look at Charles Tournemire. This chapter combines the techniques already covered with the structure and style of a specific composer, and provides a bridge into a harmonic language built upon modes. The next three chapters explain and explore the modes of Gregorian chant, a common theme source for much of French music. The final chapter of this part looks at the Bartok mode and serves as a bridge into Part IV which covers the more complex modes of Olivier Messiaen.

Only in Part V (chapters 25-35) does Brillhart finally begin to address large scale forms. Forms covered in this part include Passacaglia, Song From, Scherzo, Sonata Allegro, the structures of Louis Vierne and Pierre Cochereau, free improvisation and finally improvising on a literary text. The last two chapters (Part VI) provide examples of the language of Debussy and Ravel for the student to explore. Finally, for the student still searching at the end of this book there is a wonderful two-page bibliography of high quality resources for further exploration either of improvisation or other specific musical topics such as harmony or counterpoint.

Having spent the majority of my formal instruction in improvisation learning from French teachers, I am delighted that Jeff Brillhart has created this volume. While it may not be exactly what I experienced in France, he provides a codified and logical progression for something that I saw many French teachers address in a very haphazard way. By choosing to focus on a specific style, he actually helps the student develop many tools that can be applied in other areas. The greatest difficulty with this book may come from the lack of specific challenges for the student. Each chapter of Improvising: How to Master the Art by Gerre Hancock concludes with specific activities for the student to complete before moving on. While each chapter in Breaking Free has numerous examples and may offer ways for the student to apply the materials in the chapter, there is no task given where the student (or teacher) can clearly know if they have understood and can apply the material presented. If the student is creative, then this is probably not much of a problem, but for a beginning improviser who has trouble generating ideas, this may make it difficult to use this book without the aid of a teacher. Perhaps unintended, but a likely benefit of a student working through this book will not only be a breaking free of harmonic language, but also a strengthening of the creative muscle.

It takes a lot of varied skills to master the art of improvisation. Breaking Free by Jeff Brillhart is an excellent resource for adding tools to the improviser’s toolbox. Using this book, not only will the student break free harmonically, but he or she will also break free from the reliance on a teacher and discover his or her own creative potential. For anyone interested in improvising in a modern style (whether French or not), I highly recommend this book.

Ubi caritas

June 15, 2014 by Improviser

Ubi caritas is a Gregorian chant hymn used as either one of the antiphons for the washing of feet or the offertory procession at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The text translates as: “Where true charity is, there is God.” Maurice Duruflé wrote a choral setting using the Gregorian melody and the words of the refrain and the first stanza. More recently, University of Aberdeen professor Paul Mealor composed a setting which was included in the ceremony at the 2011 Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Videos:
Michel Chapuis – Improvisation sur “Ubi Caritas” – Cathédrale Saint-Vincent, Saint-Malo
Gilles Leclerc – Improvisations on Ubi Caritas – St. Francis of Assisi Church, Ottawa, Canada
Tom Trenney – Improvisation on ‘UBI CARITAS’ – First Plymouth Church, Lincoln Nebraska

Charles Tournemire

June 5, 2014 by Improviser

Charles Arnould Tournemire (1870 – 1939) was a French composer, organist, and accomplished improviser. His compositions include eight symphonies (one of them choral), four operas, twelve chamber works and eighteen piano solos. Today he is almost exclusively remembered for his organ music, especially L’Orgue Mystique, a set of 51 suites of pieces for the liturgical year based upon the chants of the day.

He studied organ with César Franck. From 1898 to 1939, Tournemire served as the organiste titulaire at Franck’s old church, the Basilique Ste-Clotilde in Paris. He was also professor of Chamber Music at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1931 he published a biography of Franck. A year before the biography appeared, Tournemire recorded five organ improvisations, which were later transcribed by Maurice Duruflé from the phonograph recordings. These recordings and most all of his improvisations were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant.

Book:

In 1936, Éditions Max Eschig published Précis d’éxecution de registration et d’improvisation à l’orgue by Charles Tournemire. Of the 117 pages, only the last 16 are devoted explicitly to the art of improvisation. Much of the text is devoted to philosophy, references to examples in repertoire, with some explanation of forms. Tournemire writes that the most profitable study that one could do is to read each day a sonata of Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven, and then to take the same elements and try to develop them oneself.

Recording:

Charles Tournemire: Complete Recordings

Videos:
*original audio recorded by Tournemire with slide show of pictures for videos

Charles Tournemire – Te Deum – Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France
Charles Tournemire – Fantasie on ‘Ave Maris Stella’ – Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France

I couldn’t find a video or audio online of Tournemire himself playing the other improvisations, but am including performances by other organists below because these have been such influential and well-known improvisations:
Charles Tournemire (Philippe Lefebvre plays) – Victimae paschali laudes – Chartres Cathedral, France

Conditor Alme Siderum

June 1, 2014 by Improviser

Conditor alme siderum,
aeterna lux credentium,
Christe, redemptor omnium,
exaudi preces supplicum.

Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people’s everlasting light,
Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,
and hear Thy servants when they call.

Conditor alme siderum is an anonymous text from the 7th century used at Vespers during Advent. It was translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale in the Hymnal Noted, published in 1852. The hymn follows the Long Meter poetic rhythm and is in Mode IV.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Videos:
Pierre Pincemaille – Conditor Alme Siderum – St. Denis

Veni Creator

May 30, 2014 by Improviser

In square notation:

or regular notation:

Veni Creator Spiritus is a hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. It is sung during the liturgical celebration of the feast of Pentecost (at both Terce and Vespers). It is also sung at occasions such as the entrance of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel, when electing a new pope, as well as at the consecration of bishops, the ordination of priests, when celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation, the dedication of churches, the celebration of synods or councils, the coronation of kings, the profession of members of religious institutes and other similar solemn events. Paul Hindemith concludes his Concerto for Organ and Orchestra with a “Phantasy on ‘Veni Creator Spiritus.'” Maurice Duruflé used the chant tune as the basis for his composition “Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du ‘Veni Creator'”