Tag Archives: Mozart

Twinkle, Twinkle

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Twinkle

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early 19th-century English poem, “The Star” by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann. It is sung to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirais-je, Maman”, which was first published in 1761 by François Bouin in La Vielleuse habileand. It was later arranged by Mozart for a famous set of variations. Many other texts for this melody exist in English, German, and even Vietnamese!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Ah! Vous dirai-je Maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je raisonne
Comme une grande personne
Moi je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.

See a list of other potential traditional song themes here.

Videos:
Melinda Kistetenyi – Free improvisation on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” – Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest

John Riley

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Website:
www.organimprovisation.net

YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeO4mMq0ARGvNFsLngpG6hg

Born in Leeds in 1958, John Riley started playing piano from the age of two. His formal training was at Liverpool, Cambridge and St Andrews Universities. John has enjoyed a varied career, both within and outside of music, including 15 years as a teacher in charge of computer studies and music at Pilrig Park special needs school in Edinburgh. During this time he raised the musical profile of the school significantly, including several concerts with the School Choir at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. John’s improvised accompaniments and compositions have also featured in School productions at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

Part of a team of musicians at St. Paul’s & St. George’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh since 1990, John has also acted as organist for numerous concerts and services at the Usher Hall and the Edinburgh Cathedrals.

As organist and pianist, John has a particular interest in the art of keyboard improvisation. John’s recitals invariably contain improvisations on submitted themes or pastiches on ‘hidden melodies’. He has performed his improvisations at a number of major venues and festivals. These include:- Bavokerk, Haarlem, (Haarlem International Organ Festival); Örgryte Nya Kyrka, (Gothenburg International Organ Academy); Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He has taught on numerous Oundle for Organists and Royal College of Organist Academy study days, together with Prospective Organ Scholars courses at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. John has also acted as guest tutor on some of the annual London Organ Improvisation Courses.

John has written series of articles on organ improvisation for Organists’ Review (2001) and for The Organ (2005) and a self-published improvisation tutor, ‘The Creative Organist’ (1999). A new book and CD tutor on organ improvisation is in preparation.

Videos:
John Riley – Overture in the style of Mozart – Paisley Abbey
John Riley – Scottish style bagpipe tune – Kenneth Jones organ in the chapel of Loretto School, Musselburgh
John Riley – Prelude on ‘Truro’ in the style of Vivaldi – Kenneth Jones organ in Loretto School Chapel, Musselburgh
John Riley – Improvisation on three themes: Teddy Bears Picnic, Roll Out The Barrel and Postman Pat – Wells-Kennedy organ at Pamerston Place Church, Edinburgh
John Riley – Toccata on ‘St Fulbert’ in the style of Vierne – Paisley Abbey
John Riley – Improvisation in the style of Elgar – St Paul’s Cathedral, London

Sounds like a composition to me!

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For me, there is nothing quite like creating something on the spot and then having someone walk up and ask who wrote the piece I just played. This can be even more amazing to me if the person starts speculating that it might have been one of the great composers: Bach, Mendelssohn, Frank, or even Messiaen. When the person learns it was an improvisation, they often offer up some expression of disbelief. Has this ever happened to you? I’d love to hear your stories about people’s reactions.

While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, in music it can often be considered trite and artificial. How many of us have heard stories of assorted different themes being placed into Widor’s Toccata? As I never have actually learned the original, I can’t say that I’ve made the substitution there…. Regardless, I do think it can be a worthwhile skill to imitate other composers using either similar or new thematic material.

Much of my improvisation formation has been focused on learning to create my own style. Very little time was spent focusing on the style of any particular composer. While there are organists that improvise in different styles around, I feel like the current expectation is that to create music, even on demand, requires one to say something original. Treating a theme in the style of some other known composer even when well done seems to have the reputation of a party trick rather than a true skill.

Regardless of the reputation, I believe imitating well known composers is a valid avenue to learning the skills of improvisation. Recently I discovered a couple of pianists that improvise in the style of various classical composers. Jean-Jacques Hauser alias Tartarov debuted at the Tonhalle in Zurich in 1968 with improvisations in the style of Beethoven, Mozart and Liszt. Richard Grayson would take suggestions from the audience for both theme and subject before concluding his concerts with an improvisation. There are extensive collections of both available for viewing on YouTube. I, myself, got caught in a YouTube spiral when I found Grayson’s channel here. I’ve only just begun to explore Tartarov’s channel here. To get you started, I’ve included links for a video from each of them below. Let me know which one is your favorite!

Are there any composers that you are able to imitate well? How did you learn the style? Which composers would you like to be able to imitate? Your feedback will help me flesh out the website and will guide me in the resources I seek out or create.

Hoping your improvs sound like written pieces!

Glenn Osborne

TartarovChopinYouTube GraysonStravinskyMozart

 
Newsletter Issue 1 – 2014 04 21
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Richard Grayson

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Richard Grayson
Website:
http://faculty.oxy.edu/rgrayson/

Professor of Music, Emeritus, Occidental College
Music Faculty, Crossroads School
Richard Grayson (born 1941) is an American composer and pianist. He is best known as an improvisor of classical music, most often with live-electronics. By the 1980s, he was regarded as one of the best non-jazz improvisers (Shulgold 1985). He was also organist at St. Martin of Tours Church, West Los Angeles until his retirement on May 31, 2009, after having served in that position for 28 years.

He offers an improvisation handbook for free download on his website here.

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/improvelectronic/videos
While not improvisations at the organ, the collection of videos present wonderful demonstrations of different composer’s styles and how themes from one era can be treated in the style of a completely different composer.
Examples include:
“Singin’ in the Rain” in the style of Wagner
“Singin’ in the Rain” in the style of a Chopin Waltz
Moonlight Sonata in the Style of Khachaturian
Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” in the style of Mozart
Can Can in the style of Stravinsky
And this is only a sample!!!