Note by note: Guilmant Sonata No. 1, Mvt. II: Pastorale

This is one of my favorite movements from the French Symphonic style. I excerpt it all the time, more so than the third movement.

As usual, the published metronome marking is too fast. There is plenty of room to slow this down somewhere into the 70s and still remain in a large meter of 4, which is important. One needs time to smell all these pretty roses along the way!

Compound meter can be a beast to keep under control. With this movement’s lilting rhythm of quarter-eighth, it is too easy to throw it out of flow. If the eighth note occurs too strongly, too late, or too early, it could sound like labored duplets or a dotted rhythm or just drunken sludge. Listen mercilessly but lovingly to every note, and keep the gentle flow alive, all the way to the end.

Obey Guilmant’s rests exactly, even when they are only a single eighth long. It’s all perfect the way he wrote it.

Measure 11: If you configure Swell and Positif adjacent to each other, you’ll be able to ‘thumb’ a couple alto notes in measures 13 and 14, to preserve legato (see next paragraph below). A good way to configure this in English/American manual layout is to couple the Swell to the dead Great and play there, then play the Positif normally from measure 11. You can undo the Swell/Great setup later, by moving the hands to the ‘real’ Swell during measure 18, removing the Swell-Great coupler, and adding the ‘real’ stops on the Great in preparation for measure 21. A general piston is probably the way to go there. If this sounds like a lot of trouble, I assert my gospel lesson once again that preserving as much legato as possible is always worth a piston.

Measure 13: The alto A on the ninth eighth note could be taken by the left hand (probably the second finger). Ditto the alto B in the following measure.

Measure 24: I add the Great to Pedal during the rests in this measure, to give the Pedal more presence in the brief contrapuntal section through measure 29. Guilmant’s directive to remove the Positif Clarinette in this measure can wait until measure 30, when you can hit a general piston just after the downbeat and take care of everything at once.

Measure 38: No need to try to time a general piston just right for the left-hand chord. That piston may be hit any time between 34 and 37, because it won’t affect the Great, where you are playing at that point 

Measure 41: Positif divisions rarely have the Harmonic Flute that Guilmant calls for. I just use whatever manual has a big flute on it. And don’t forget that a four-foot flute (or two of them!) played down an octave might be just as good on some organs. In any event, you can get the Clarinette back later, in time for measure 53. Throughout this passage, obey Guilmant’s rests exactly, and watch for those spots where your wrist may be raising into the air for a release, but your fingers still have notes down!

The rest of this lovely piece plays itself, so long as you observe Guilmant’s rests and registrations. As pieces go, this one is not hard to play, but it becomes harder if you are as much a slave to legato as I am. If you are, then some of this will require sophisticated fingering and quick manual changes that should not be allowed to sound panicked. Enjoy.

The third movement of the Sonata is not under discussion here, but if you have read others of my Note-By-Note posts, you’ll probably be able to write a post about that one on my behalf! Be sure to include phrases such as “usually too fast,” “don’t rush,” and “usually too loud.” *Grin*