Tag Archives: Noël Hazebroucq

Symphony

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A symphony is a multi-movement form, usually tonal with the first movement in sonata allegro form. While originating as a suite of pieces for orchestra, as the tone palette of the organ grew, it migrated to a form for the newer romantic/symphonic organ. Though the very first organ symphony was written by German composer Wilhelm Valentin Volckmar in 1867, the genre is mainly associated with French romanticism. César Franck wrote what is considered to be the first French organ symphony in his Grand pièce symphonique, and the composers Charles-Marie Widor, who wrote ten organ symphonies, and his pupil Louis Vierne, who wrote six, continued to cultivate the genre. The Symphonie-Passion of Marcel Dupré is the reconstruction of an improvisation by Dupré that he made at Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia on 8 December 1921. While classical symphonies (and those written compositions) developed original material, it seems most improvised symphonies follow the pattern of Dupré in utilizing chants, chorales, or other themes known to the audience.

Videos:
Nigel Allcoat – Symphonie Improvisée on ‘Salve Regina’ – St Nicolas du Chardonnet, Paris
Jean-Baptiste Dupont – Symphonie improvisée playlist- St-Joseph, Bonn Beuel (Germany)
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 1: Allegro Sonate – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 2: Scherzo – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 3: Cantilène et toccata – La Madeleine, Paris
Otto Maria Krämer – Symphonie Francaise – Allegro ma non troppo
Otto Maria Krämer – Symphonie Francaise – Cantabile
Otto Maria Krämer – Symphonie Francaise – Scherzando on “Macht hoch die Tür”
Otto Maria Krämer – Symphonie Francaise – Prière
Otto Maria Krämer – Symphonie Francaise – Final

Competition and Twitter

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This week I am attending the AGO National Convention in Boston. There will be several events that include organ improvisations during the week: a concert by Thierry Escaich, a Hymn Sing with Bruce Neswick and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, a silent movie accompanied by Peter Edwin Krasinski, and several workshops and masterclasses. You can see the complete list that I compiled here. While I am always excited to see many familiar people and hear some fabulous playing, one of the highlights for me at the national convention is always the National Compeition in Organ Improvisation (NCOI).

After a preliminary selection round by recording, five candidates were selected to participate in the semi-final round. For this round, the candidates will have 30 minutes of preparation time with the themes and then will be required to play 1) a historically inspired improvisation based on a given hymn melody, chorale tune, or plainsong and 2) an improvisation on one of the given free themes, or on one given free theme and a secondary theme of the contestant’s choosing. Total performance time for these two improvisations is a maximum of 27 minutes. While that may seem like a long time to improvise, most candidates usually create a suite of variations on the hymn, chorale, or chant, so it becomes a little easier to fill the time requirement with short manageable movements. In fact, over the years, I’ve seen a few candidates have to end quickly in order not to play too long!

A maximum of three candidates will then be selected to continue on to the final round. The requirements for the final round are 1) a prelude, fantasia, or toccata and a fugue based on given theme(s), which may be sacred or secular and 2) a free improvisation based on a given musical theme or a given nonmusical theme (literary passage or artwork). Total performance time is again limited to a maximum of 27 minutes.

How many of these tasks would you feel comfortable doing now? Even if you aren’t able to hear the competition this week, the AGO has previous competition recordings available in the AGO Store. I found the recording from Nashville in 2012 listed in the Organ Music/Essays/Catalogs category. It also seems like you may be able to obtain other recordings from AGO National if you call and ask.

Now on Twitter

Because I received a request to report on the competition from someone who is not able to attend, I decided to set up a twitter account and live tweet the competition. I’ll eventually post a summary at organimprovisation.com, but if you’d like to follow along as it happens, I’ll do my best to make it informative and entertaining. With everyone following the World Cup, here’s my chance to be the announcer for the “American Cup” of organ improvisation. Follow me at @organimproviser to see if improvisation can be more exciting than soccer!

After a week of competitions, concerts, and workshops, I hope to have more practical advice for you next week.

Hoping you are having a fabulous summer of learning and fun!

Glenn

 
Recent additions to organimprovisation.com:

Organists:

Review:

Themes:

 
Newsletter Issue 9 – 2014 06 23
See the complete list of past newsletter issues here.
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Noël Hazebroucq

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Hazebroucq

Noël Hazebroucq was born in Paris in 1979. After completing musical studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris-CNR, the CNR in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés he obtained diplomas from the École Nationale de Musique in Orléans and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon. In 2004, he won the “Grand Prix d’improvisation” of the City of Paris and the second prize ex-aequo and the Public Prize at the international organ competition “Grand Prix de Chartres”. He teaches at the Conservatoire international de musique de Paris (8ème), and is organiste titulaire at the Temple des Batignolles in Paris.


Recordings:

impro-cd-cover-art
Hazebroucq: Impro


YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrEVuKiWCkeqVhD1D3fxfw

Videos:
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass – La Madeleine, Paris in French with English subtitles
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass Part 1- Eglise Saint-Thibault du Pecq in French
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass Part 2- Eglise Saint-Thibault du Pecq in French

Noël Hazebroucq – Free Improvisation on the text “Une vie de Saint Martin” – Eglise Saint Martin, Biarritz

An improvised symphony on themes from Maurice Duruflé and Veni Creator.
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 1: Allegro Sonate – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 2: Scherzo – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 3: Cantilène et toccata – La Madeleine, Paris