Confidence and practice technique - April 2013 Lesson

Last Saturday at my lesson two themes emerged: confidence and practice technique.

Confidence:

I have been learning the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" for several months. I choose to start my lesson with this piece. I was nervous as it had been 6 weeks since my last lesson. Also, I had lost a week of practice time due to illness. When I am nervous, my playing sounds nervous. My first couple of attempts did not go so well. Finally, Michael told me to focus. He knew I could do it. Then I played the hymn much better. I need to learn to have confidence going into to a lesson as eventually as I will need confidence once I am ready for public performances. 

Practice Technique:

We ended the lesson with Fugue from Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 553) which I have been working on for over a year. I am still having issues with holding a consistent tempo (speed). I slow down for harder sections and speed up for easier sections. This is not a new problem and has been discussed at many lessons. The problem is with how I practice. I keep doing the same things over and over again which ingrain the wrong habits into my brain. 

Albert Einstein described insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". 

To combat this insanity Michael suggested I practice in small sections, only 3 or 4 measures at a time, alternating with and without the metronome. I should also record myself so that I can get better at critiquing myself and hearing my problems on my own. 

Overall, the lesson went well and it was a joy to play the pipe organ. The picture below was taken from the balcony just before my lesson began. As you may remember, the organ at Trinity Episcopal Church is in the balcony. This is the organist's view of the nave from the balcony.

 

Organist's view from balcony at Trinity Episcopal Church

 

March 2013 Lesson - A lesson in multitasking

A couple of Saturdays ago, I traveled to Toledo for an organ lesson. The theme of the lesson became multitasking as I had trouble learning the new hymns and Bach piece assigned at my previous lesson. What do you think of first when you here "multitasking"? I think of my job where I often have several tasks going at once. 

How does this apply to an organist?  

Organists need to be very good at multitasking to be successful. Each hand and foot usually has it's own "task" to handle. The notes for the left hand will not be the same as the right. The feet are playing the pedals. The tempo must remain consistent. Registration (stops) may need to be changed throughout a piece. Pages may need to be turned. Some organists also direct a choir while they play! 

I've learned that playing the organ is harder than it looks! To improve more quickly, I need to practice each "task" independently. For example, learning the part for each hand separately before playing them together. 

What could you learn more quickly if you broke it down into smaller pieces?

Music from Sainte-Clotilde, Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival

On February 17th, 2013 I attended an organ concert presented by the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI. Five of the six organists are students of James Kibbie at the University of Michigan. All pieces played were composed by former organists at Sainte Clotilde in Paris, France from 1863 to 1987:

• César Franck, 1863-1890
• Gabriel Pierne, 1890-1898
• Charles Tournemire, 1898-1939
• Joseph Ermend Bonnal, 1942-1944
• Jean Langlais, 1945-1987

A complete listing of past and current organists at Sainte-Clotilde can be found here.

This concert was excellent. The organists may be students, but don't let "student" fool you into assuming that are not first class organists. Most of the students already hold organists positions at area churches and are accomplished organists. 

Organ at First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI

Like the Christmas Concert at First United Methodist Church, this concert showed two views of the organist and console on a screen. Two alternating views were displayed - hands on the key boards and feet on the pedals. 

Each organist shared a little about the piece they were about to play or about the composer. The information varied from fun fact to stories. Organist and composer Jean Langlais was blind!

The next Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival concert will be held on March 17, 2013 at 4:00 PM at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI. Program details can be found on their website: http://wp.ypsipipes.org/

Lenten Organ Recital at FCC of Ann Arbor - 2/15/2013

The first recital in the 2013 Lenten organ recital series presented by the Ann Arbor chapter of the American Guild of Organists was last Friday. The recitals are at noon every Friday from Ash Wednesday until Easter at the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. 

First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor

I arrived about 10 minutes early. Much to my surprise there were only about 10 in the audience, excluding the organists and organizers. However, by the end of the concert there were closer to 20 in attendance. 

There was a sign on the front sidewalk advertising for the free concert. I wondered if any of those coming in late stopped in because they heard the organ music and the sign on the sidewalk advertising the free concert or if they planned to come and were late.

Morgan Byrd, a third year undergraduate student at the University of Michigan studying organ, started the recital with Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532). This exciting piece is about 10 lengths in length and Morgan played it all from memory! An impressive feat given the intricacies of this piece which includes some fancy footwork. 

The remainder of the concert was performed by Renate McLaughlin. She is a Master of Music (Church Music) student at the University of Michigan. Renate explained a little bit about the pieces she would play. She started with "Kryie" composed by Jean Langlais. Then she played 4 chorale preludes back to back before introducing the last piece, "Duo" from Messe pour les couvents  by Francois Couperin. 

I am looking forward to the remaining recitals and encourage you to attend organ recitals in your area! The Prelude and Fugue in D Major was amazing to hear live. Take 10 minutes and watch Diane Bish's performance.

Facing anxiety (February 2013 Lesson)

Last Saturday at my lesson I was reminded that when I feel anxious, that anxiety transfers to my playing and can be heard by all. Even after 3 years of lessons, I still feel intimidated when I sit on the organ bench of a pipe organ at the beginning of a lesson. The pipe organ is much more grand and awesome than the old electronic instrument I practice on at home. And Michael (my teacher) is there too watching and listening ready to critique or give approval of my performance. 

I began this lesson with the hymn "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee" as I was confident in my ability to play it. What I didn't consider was my anxiety level. It was uneven and rushed and wrong notes were played! This hymn should bring peace and my initial attempt was quite the opposite. After a few attempts, I calmed down and was able to play it successfully. 

Michael and I had the anxiety talk again. I should be relaxed from the start. How do we conquer anxiety? 

In this video, "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee", is played by Frederick Swann.

At the 30 second mark of this video of the camera pans over the audience of several hundred.  Just the thought of playing for this many people provokes anxiety. 
 

With more practice and patience, I will gain confidence reducing the anxiety, at least that is what I am telling myself. The first step is making it through a lesson without anxiety.

Have you ever had to overcome public performance anxiety? How did you do it?

What if I set a schedule

A new year is upon us. What will your goals be? Will you write them down and commit to them? I set several goals in a few areas including the typical to eat healthier and exercise more. I wrote them down which increases the likelihood that I will be successful. Now let's get to my organ related goals.

Back in March 2012 I announced my goal to practice 10 hours a week. I have not yet come close to 10 hours in a week. Since mid October 2012 I have been recording a few notes, the date, day of week, and amount of time spent practicing in Evernote. Upon review, I have only been practicing 3 or 4 days a week. I had intended to practice at my church on the way to work but discovered that I am afraid to go there in the dark. 

I learned from Jon Acuff that we will accomplish more if we schedule time to work on our goals. Writing out a schedule feels scary. Then I will be committed and can be held accountable. I am afraid of not sticking to the schedule. Should I let fear stand in my way? Should I let fear convince me that I should not try it because I am going to fail? What if I did it? What if each Sunday I wrote on a calendar practice times for the week? Even if some weeks I could not stick to it I'm sure my overall practice time would increase which is the ultimate goal.

Scheduling practice times could change my life!

Deciding to not give up on a piece - December 2012

A couple of weeks ago I had another lesson with Michael at his church. 

For over a year, I have been learning the Adagio movement from Widor's Symphony No. 5. I am still having technical issues with this piece as was evident when I played it at my lesson. I usually play the correct notes at home, but I was not as successful at my lesson. My usage of the expression pedal was not accurate enough - the expression pedal is used to create crescendos and decrescendos (increase or decrease the volume). As I was playing, Michael interrupted several times to point out issues and then I would attempt to correct and move on. I kept making mistakes. 

Michael proposed that I may be making more mistakes than usual because of all the interruptions which tend to increase my nervousness. So he had me play it all the way through from start to finish without stopping even if I made an error. I didn't play it perfectly but it did feel good to play the entire piece. My rendition is not performance ready. Then Michael asked a question: did I want to continue perfecting the piece or move on to another piece leaving this one unfinished? I heard this as: Do you want to give up?

Giving up would be easier but I would likely regret it later. I didn't want to give up! I decided to continue with it for at least one more lesson. It feels close to being complete and the finish line is in sight! 

An Organist's Christmas - Concert 12/7/12

Ted and I attended the concert entitled An Organist's Christmas on 12/07/2012 at the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor., MI It was presented by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the First Music and Art Series.  The church is large and beautiful with stone and woodwork and stained glass windows. The organ was initially installed by W. W. Kimball Co. in 1940. Additional stops and pipes were added in 1958 by the Reuter Organ Co. Reuter also provided a new console in 1988. This organ has 3 manuals and pedals and 44 ranks of pipes. The organ specifications in the program listed each stops and the number of pipes associated with them and indicated which pipes were Kimball pipes. The organ was recently renovated by the Renaissance Pipe Organ Company.  

Pipe Organ at First United Methodist Church - Ann Arbor, MI

The church had a big screen at the front of the church. This is likely used to display words to songs and sermon notes during services. During this concert it would serve a different purpose, showing close ups of the organist playing the organ! There were 3 or 4 different views. One zoomed in on the organists hands on the keyboards. Another view was at a wider angle where we could see the organist and their feet and hands. Then another view of just the pedals allowing the audience to see the fascinating footwork. The technical crew seemed to know just when to switch views!

There were 3 organists: David Hufford, Marcia Van Oyen, and Thomas Strode. The first piece played by David was played by memory! Marcia played an interesting piece called - "Variations sur un Noël" by Marcel Dupré . It consisted of about 10 variations each sounding unique. The finale was spectacular! Thomas played a chorale prelude along with violinist Kathryn Votapek and the Boy Choir of Ann Arbor.

Each organist played 3 or 4 pieces with the last being a hymn with singing by congregation and with the boy choir. Prior to playing the hymn, Thomas and David both played variations on the hymn they were about to play. David played "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and Thomas played "O Come, All Ye Faithful". It was very interesting hear the variations followed immediately by the traditional version one would expect to hear. Marcia's hymn was "Once in Royal David's City."  Hearing the voices of the congregation and the boy choir along with the organ was wonderful.

Overall the concert was very enjoyable and I encourage you to attend Christmas concerts that feature the pipe organ.

 

A coincidence, I think not

Sunday evening I decided to listen to an episode of The Joy Of Music while doing some cleaning. I almost could not believe my ears! Diane Bish played her arrangement of "All Creatures of Our God and King." I instantly felt amazed and overcome as I am currently learning this hymn. This is not the first time where I have unexpectedly heard a piece performed that I am currently learning. I am awestruck each time it happens. I feel like it is a sign from God to continue pursuing the organ. At my last lesson Michael reminded me to listen to recordings of the pieces that I am learning. Perhaps, God brought this recording to me!

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (NIV). 

You may be thinking, oh that was just a coincidence. How many things have to align for it to not be a coincidence?  

• Diane Bish has recorded over 500 episodes of The Joy of Music. 
• • This particular episode was saved on my DVR. 
  • The DVR is set to record The Joy of Music every time that it is on (it airs on the The Church Channel on Dish Network). 
  • The DVR will only keep the 20 most recent recordings. 
  • I randomly picked this episode of the 20 saved on the DVR.
• My motive for listening to the show was not purely to hear organ music. Just recently my husband asked me if I still watched them. I decided to put on an episode in the background while cleaning as I had been neglecting the show.  My initial goal was to be able to tell my husband that I listened to an episode. 
• I had attempted to invite myself over to my niece's for the evening but she had other plans. If she has been around, I would not have been home cleaning.
• I was only cleaning because my washer had broke on Saturday and my brother-in-law was coming the next day to fix it.

I could list more but I am not trying to convince you, although perhaps I am attempting to be a bit persuasive. 

Regardless of what you believe - hand of God or just coincidence - it felt awesome to me! 

A corrected mistake is evidence of progress!

As described in my last post, my November lesson was a bit tough. However, I did show some improvement. While playing "Like a River Glorious", I played a wrong note in the pedal line. I immediately corrected and Michael noticed. This was a big deal. In the past, when playing a wrong note (especially at a lesson), I would freeze, or stop playing, or continue playing with each subsequent note being wrong. Organists will make mistakes. It is likely no one will remember a wrong note (unless it is the first or the last!). This mistake and the correction the followed was a sign of progress!

We all make mistakes. How we handle them can often be more important than the actual mistake. When I play a wrong note [make a mistake] the best option is to quickly correct it and move on. Dwelling on it (freezing until corrected), stopping (giving up completely), and continuing but not fixing it (one mistake leads to another) emphasize the mistake instead of the solution.

What are the best ways you have find to handle mistakes?

 

 

Why to practice as recommended - November 2012 Lesson

Lessons go better when the advice of the teacher is followed!

Last Saturday, I had an organ lesson with Michael. I was very optimistic going into the lesson. I was confident that Michael would be impressed with my improvement since my last lesson. But that is not how most of my lesson turned out. You see, I had become over confident during my practice time. And I made excuses. I was often tired when practicing so I didn't turn on the metronome. I wanted to avoid it's persistent and never ending clicks. I didn't want to take the time to record myself and play it back. It's much easier to deny my errors when I didn't hear them. I didn't sing along with the hymns to given the words the attention they deserve. 

I felt a little crushed after the lesson. I wanted to be better but I wasn't. It was my fault. I hadn't put in the proper effort. I didn't follow the advice that I'm paying for. I sulked a bit, but that wasn't going to help me improve. I made a  list to remind myself of some of Michael's suggestions (paraphrased) has given me multiple times. These should lead to me showing improvement at my lessons:

• Pay attention to details when practicing - READ THE WORDS in hymns
• Listen to recordings of other organists playing the pieces I am learning. 
• Make friends with the metronome. Don't just turn it on, listen to it while playing!
• Record myself and playback the recordings 

This lesson was tough as it's hard to hear "its not good enough". But this may turn out to be a very pivotal lesson as I confronted my issues. Now I will be more diligent when practicing and more likely to think about all the instructions and guidance Michael has provided. I will be sharing more about this lesson soon.

You are probably not taking organ lessons (if you are let me know!). But all of us can learn from this situation. if you are any type of student working with a teacher, take your teacher's advice! (assuming it is sound advice, of course). 

Michael Gartz Organ Recital 10-28-2012

Last Sunday afternoon Michael Gartz, my teacher, played a delightful recital at Trinity Episcopal Church. I attended along with my husband and many other listeners eager to hear the organ. The pipe organ is located in the balcony which is in the back of the church. Instead of typical pews found in many churches this church uses chairs. One advantage of this is that the chairs can be arranged into many configurations.  For this concert, the chairs were positioned so that they faced the back of the church and we could see Michael at the console.

Michael performed 4 pieces in the first half of the program including Chorale Prelude - "Bangor"  by Margaret A. Weber. Margaret was born in 1917 and was in the audience! At the end of the intermission Michael addressed the audience from the balcony (I had a picture of this but it was too fuzzy to share). The second half was filled with 3 pieces, but the last was a Suite which contained 5 movements. After a standing ovation, Michael played an encore piece.  All pieces were very well played. Michael takes great care in the registration (the stops used which determine how the organ will sound when played). And as always, it was a joy to hear Michael at the console! He continues to inspire me.

Pictured below is the view of Michael at the console.  The detail and coloring of the windows cannot be seen due to the sun shinning brightly through them. And I find the pipes to be quite impressive! 

Michael Gartz at the organ console at Trinity Episcopal Church, Toledo, OH.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

It's been over two weeks since we have spent time together.You are probably thinking this means I've spent more time at the organ bench practicing. In reality, I've been busy having good intentions and  and reading and making excuses. I planned to make plans for us but didn't follow through with the plan.

Blog, you read the couple of paragraphs I shared about my trip to Nashville. I was inspired by my trip and the church I visited. I bet you expected the my excuses to stop!  I received blogging advice that I have yet to implement. I joined Twitter and now follow writers and organists and inspiring folks. Now, I see ongoing advice/inspiration/motivation daily on my Twitter feed. But the excuses to avoid writing continue.

I am BUSY! I work full time and need to actually practice the organ too. I love to read!  I have games on my smart phone to play! Do you understand!?

I've been reading books and blogs and tweets that while help us along in our journey together. I am learning more about myself, writing, and the blog platform. And I am consistently reading that the best way to become a better write it to write! There are no shortcuts.

Thank you, Blog, for waiting patiently for me to return. Together we will succeed (although eventually I will be ditching you for a self-hosted site).

Heidi

P.S. Do you have good intentions? What plans do you want to follow through on?

October 2012 Lesson

Last Friday, I met with Michael Gratz for an organ lesson at Trinity Episcopal Church. For the first time that I can recall I was late to the lesson. I stopped at the bank on the way and the ATM decided to keep my debit card! Fortunately, the bank was opened and they retrieved my card. Between this incident, traffic, and construction I was about 10 minutes late.

When I finally arrived Michael was waiting for me at the organ. We started the lesson with the Bach Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 553). As with most lesson, my first challenge was to adjust to the pipe organ hearing the decay of previous notes while playing the current note. I primarily practice on my electronic organ at home and on electronic organs (at least older models from the 70's) there is not a decay. I am still having tempo issues with the second half of the prelude and the entire fugue which is evidence that I did not practice enough with the metronome.

Michael approved my rendition of Come, All Christians, Be Committed. This hymn took many months (possible over a year) for me to learn correctly. It felt great to have Michael check this one off my practice list!

The highlight of the lesson was playing Holy, Holy, Holy. After some instruction from Michael, I was able to play this hymn in a manner that would be acceptable to a congregation. I felt such joy hearing the music coming from the pipes while I played.

Overall it was a great and enjoyable lesson!

Visiting Brentwood United Methodist Church

During my recent trip to the Nashville, TN area I attended a Sunday morning service at Brentwood United Methodist Church. 

This church was big! It was a little intimidating at first. I arrived early and their contemporary service was underway. The lobby was nearly empty other than a few having a conversation at the welcome desk. I slide by them in search of a restroom. By the time I returned the lobby was filling up and with the size of this church this size I was not easily recognized as a visitor.

During the service, the hymns were well played on the organ by Dr. Gregg Bunn. The music inspired and encouraged the congregation to sing.  This was one of the best sounding pipe organs I have heard. After the service I talked with Dr. Bunn for a few minutes. He confirmed that the church takes very good care of its instruments and keeps the environment at the proper temperature. The history behind the BUMC organs (they also have an organ in their chapel) is extensive.

This Möller organ has four manuals with many stops as you can see in the picture below. When I explained that I was visiting from out of town, Dr. Bunn suggested that I play the organ while I waited for my flight! How exciting would that have been! I politely declined as I wanted to get to the airport with plenty to spare. But really I didn't have the confidence to play such an instrument in front of others.

You may be wondering, just how I decided which church in the Nashville area to attend. I found this particular church by looking for churches within reasonable distance of my hotel, in the direction of the airport, and also listed has having a pipe organ on the website for the Nashville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.  Then I confirmed on the church site which services used the organ.

Console of the Möller Pipe organ at BUMC.

The visible pipes in the BUMC sanctuary.

It's been 3 years - looking back and forward

This month marks three years of organ lessons. Three years! Looking back, I have made significant progress. I can now play the pedals and the manuals (keyboards) at the same time, substitute fingers (and feet), play a few pieces from beginning to end, and  have a basic understanding of how a pipe organ works.

Before I began, taking lessons, I thought in 2 or 3 years I would be proficient enough to be an organist at a church. I have been asked "How much longer will you need lessons?" and "When will you be ready to perform?" Learning the organ has been much more difficult than I ever anticipated.

Last weekend, I attended Jon Acuff's Quitter conference which was about following dreams. My dreams are to be an organist and a writer. I learned that its okay to go slow. It's better to make mistakes now while fewer people are watching. As Jon said, we can be awesome later. I need to be patient and make better use of my time to accomplish goals. There are things I can work at my current day job which will help with my dreams. The conference provided me with the inspiration to keep working on my dreams.

Looking forward, I will be better at planning. I will figure out what this blog should really be about. I will continue to learn. I will make use of the information provided at the conference. I will face my fears!

At the conference Jon Acuff said "Action always beats Intention". What actions do you need to start taking? Are there dreams you have been intending to work on?

Summer Recital Series - August 20, 27, 2012

Recently, I attended the last two of four recitals presented by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists as part of their Summer Recital Series at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, MI. I also attended the first recital but skipped the second recital as I was not in Ann Arbor that day.

August 20, 2012 - Shin-Ae Chun

Shin-Ae Chun performed four pieces. Her recital is not as fresh in my mind as it has been almost two weeks, but I do recall enjoying the performance and that the four pieces flowed well together. Shin-Ae also turned all of her own pages. Turning pages sounds simple but to do it while playing is harder than it looks! It is a skill I have not yet mastered.

Shin-Ae has an impressive resume holding several degrees and she is represented by Concert Artist Cooperative.


August 27, 2012 - Ted Emch

Ted Emch's recital included a variety of pieces. He played a couple of Bach pieces, a Buxtehude piece, Great is Thy Faithfulness, and his own complied improvisation of several melodies from movies in the first half. Following intermission, he played pieces from French composers and ended the program with Jon Phillip Sousa's Liberty Bell March, accompanied by a drummer. After a standing ovation, he performed another piece from memory.

Ted is an assistant organist at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and also a high school teacher. I found Ted inspiring as, like me, he makes time for the organ outside of his full time (non-organist) job.

August 2012 Lesson

Yesterday morning I met Michael for a lesson at Trinity Episcopal Church. My previous lesson was over 2 months ago, so it felt great to be seated at the console of a well cared for pipe organ again. The sound from this instrument makes me feel alive and joyful.

Overall, this lesson went very well. I still have tempo issues to resolve but my practice time while using the metronome has paid off as I showed some improvement. Also, after many months of practice, Michael approved my performance of the Andante movement of Mendelssohn's Sonata No. 6. I am not able to play it perfectly each time just yet, but well enough that I no longer need to focus on it during my practice time. If you would like to hear what this piece sounds like check out Hans-André Stamm video on YouTube. I do not feel confident enough to play it for an audience yet.


At the end of my lesson I take a picture of the nave from the balcony. This is the first church I have been in that uses chairs instead of pews.

Summer Recital Series - August 6, 2012

Last night I attended the first organ recital presented by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists as part of their Summer Recital Series. Each Monday in August at 7:00 PM the organ recital is at the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Ann Arbor. The history of the pipe organ and the stop list can be viewed here on their website.

The organist was Naki Sung Kripfgans and it was delightful to hear Naki play again. I first heard her play during the Lenten Recital Series earlier this year.

Naki performed six pieces for an audience of over 200. In addition to the program, there was a handout that described the pieces. In between pieces, Naki addressed the audience providing information on the piece or a personal story, relating well to the crowd. After a standing ovation, Naki performed a seventh piece.

The most surprising piece on the program was Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Takeshi Kondo as this is my first recital to hear a children's song. According to the program notes, the piece was commissioned by the Yokohma Minaot-Mirai Hall in Japan in 2003. The piece was designed so that each variation uses a different family of organ pipes. When the piece was performed the listeners could easily hear when registration was changed.

I am looking forward to next week's recital which will feature organist for the studio of James Kibbie.

Pipe Organ at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

Pre-Candidate Recital at U of M

On Friday, June 15, 2012 I attended Nancy J. Deacon's pre-candidate recital at the University of Michigan. U of M has several pipe organs on campus. This performance was on the Marilyn Mason Organ at Blanche Anderson Moore Hall which is located in the basement of the E.V. Moore Building. Andrew Langlands was the cantor.

I do not know what degree Nancy J. Deacon is a candidate for. The program did not provide any background information on Nancy and I did not stick around for the refreshments afterward to ask questions.

For the recital Nancy played three different versions of "Gloria":

Gloria from Messe pour les convents (1690) by Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
Gloria from Messe pour les paroisses (1689) by Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
Gloria from Livre D'Orgue (1699) by Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703)

Nancy talked about each piece before she played and I learned that Gloria was (and perhaps still is) used during Roman Catholic Mass. The latin text of the Gloria was provided in the program as for each piece, the cantor would sing a few words (broken into couplets) of the Gloria and Nancy followed on the organ. This alternating pattern repeated for each of the 9 couplets.

The singing by Andrew and Nancy on the organ was well executed. However, by the end of the program, all three pieces seemed similar in style and I felt like I could not easily distinguish the differences between them. I could see in the program that the couplet names varied. And perhaps the breaking point for each couplet varied from piece to piece.

I also admit that I was a little distracted by my surroundings. Much to my surprise the organ hall was in the basement! The walls were made of cement (or similar material) and the floor was covered in square green tiles. I felt like I was sitting on a pew in a drained swimming pool! It is likely that the materials were chosen for their acoustic properties. Their appeared to be seating for about 100 and I estimate that there were about 45-50 people in attendance. Below is a picture of the hall and pipe organ.

The Marilyn Mason Organ