Tag Archives: Lobe den Herren

Franz Josef Stoiber

by

1

StoiberWebsite:
http://www.domorganist-stoiber.de/

Franz Josef Stoiber is a renowned organist and teacher of improvisation. He has been organist of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Regensburg since 1996, and was appointed as full-time professor for organ and improvisation at Regensburg University in 2003. He studied with Jon Laukvik in Stuttgart and Peter Planyavsky in Vienna. He is very active as a concert organist and lecturer, and has made many CDs. He was recently involved in the design of the ground-breaking new organ in Regensburg Cathedral.

He will teach courses in improvisation in London and Regensburg during the summer of 2014.


Book:

Gehörbildung, Tonsatz, Improvisation
This book is in German.

Recordings:

  • Orgelmusik aus dem Regensburger Dom – Works by Reger, Renner and Improvisations (1999), IFO-records, Mainz
  • Glocken und Orgelimprovisationen im Hohen Dom zu Regensburg – (2002). Motette CD 12561
  • Orgelimprovisationen – Weihnachten. Göckel-Orgel in St. Peter zu Düsseldorf (2005). ORGANpromotion, Sulz am Neckar
  • Die Regensburger Domorgel – Works by Bach, Renner, Dupré and Improvisations – Rieger organ (2010). Motette 13791
  • Die Orgeln der Hochschule für katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik Regensburg – Improvisation on “Lobe den Herren” and the Gregorian Antiphon “Cantantibus organis Caecilia Domino decantabat” (2010). HfKM, Regensburg
  • “Alles meinem Gott zu Ehren” – Works by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Improvisations – Kögler organ in the Stadtpfarrkirche St. Laurentius in Neustadt a.d. Donau (2013). Ambiente Audio
  • Glocken- und Orgelklänge aus dem Regensburger Dom – Improvisations on the Rieger organ (2013). Motette 50931

Videos:
Franz Josef Stoiber – Suite francaise – Regensburger Domorgel
Hommage à Nicolas de Grigny (Plain jeu – Duo – Trio – Basse de Crommorne – Recit de Nazard – Grands Jeux) on Nun lobet Gott im hohen Thron

The Four C’s: Convincing

by

0

Last week I introduced the qualities I call the Four C’s of Improvisation: a successful improvisation is competent, convincing, coherent and colorful. Last week I explored the area of competency, discussing knowledge of the organ, technical skills and musical formation. This week, we’ll look at how we can be convincing while living in the moment and being open to a future that of unknown possibilities.

Rhythm

Good public speaking requires fluidity. Words just roll off the tongue of good speakers. No hesitations. No ums or uhs. Even in conversation, unless we get interrupted, our thoughts generally flow from start to finish if we know what we intend to say. To be convincing, I believe improvisers must maintain the same rhythmic flow as good speakers. Any hesitancy makes our statement weaker. What’s the surest way to know a performer has made a mistake while playing a piece of repertoire? A disruption in the rhythm! (And no, rests are not necessarily a disruption in the rhythm. Plenty of good pieces make ample use of them.)

Thinking

When learning a written composition, we usually practice slowly, especially the difficult passages. This enables us to take the necessary time to read the music and find the notes without disrupting the flow. We need to do the same when improvising. One of the lessons I learned from Naji Hakim was “Never improvise faster than you can think.” If our rhythm hesitates, perhaps we are playing too quickly and need to slow our hands and feet down so that our brain can catch up. One of the surest ways to run into problems is to let our hands and feet wander aimlessly over the keyboard. While we might manage to be rhythmic, chances are our coherence may go out the window.

Conviction

There is no better way to be convincing than to play what we play with conviction. One of my favorite British entertainers is Derren Brown. On one of his TV series, he went to the track and through primarily a strong sense of conviction was able to collect winnings from losing bets. He even teaches someone else to do the same thing. (Watch the clip here.) On a visit to New York, he pays for food and jewelry with paper! While he employs a few other tricks, if he had any doubts or hesitation about what he was doing, his chance of success would drop precipitously. If we can make musical statements with as much conviction as Derren Brown uses words, lots of other details can be ignored while still providing an enjoyable experience to the listener.

To be convincing, we must improvise rhythmically, no faster than we can think and with conviction. The first two of these also help in being coherent, our topic for next week.

For this week, may all your improvs be convincing!

Glenn Osborne

 
Recent additions to organimprovisation.com:

Artists:

Themes:

 
Newsletter Issue 3 – 2014 05 12
See the complete list of past newsletter issues here.
Sign up to receive future issues using the box to the right on this page.

Lobe den Herren

by

0

LobedenHerrenThe melody named for Joachim Neander’s German chorale Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren was first published in 1665 and is probably based on a folk tune. The English translation Praise to the Lord, the Almighty was prepared by Catherine Winkworth and published in 1863.

See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Richard Cummins – Improvisation on Lobe den Herren – Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on April 15, 2012

Tom Hazleton – Free Hymn Improvisation on ‘Lobe Den Herren’ – Basilica of Mission San Dolores, San Francisco, California

Daniel Roth – Improvisation on ‘Praise to the Lord’ – Saint Sulpice, Paris

Hymns and Chorales

by

0

Because hymns and chorales form the cornerstone of most Protestant worship services, they are frequent subjects for organ improvisations. Examples can be found below in both liturgical and concert settings.

Hymns and Chorales:

Videos:
Vincent Dubois – Improvisation on Ode to Joy by BEETHOVEN – Reims Basilique St Remy
Gerre Hancock – Final hymn and improvised Organ Voluntary on ‘Gott sei Dank’ – May 18, 2003 – St. Thomas
Pierre Pincemaille: Improvisation sur “Noi canteremo gloria a Te” (aka OLD HUNDREDTH) – Chignolo d’Isola, Bergamo, Italy
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Canon
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Intermezzo
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Fugue
Tom Trenney – “Duke Street”, April 28, 2013 at First-Plymouth Church
Tom Trenney – “Come Down, O Love Divine” – First-Plymouth Church

For more videos, see the master list of all videos on the website here.