Note by note: Mulet Carillon-Sortie

This piece has always been with me. I always thought the main theme is so lovely and tuneful and has a certain French café air about it.

Measure 1: I begin with the box slightly open and close it in time for measure 2. Don’t know why. I just like that. I do the same thing with other pieces that begin similarly.

Opening measures: Sixteenth notes: always legato. There should be no phrasing, lifting, or other anachronistic techniques employed in any sixteenths in this piece. Matter of fact, ditto for eighths.

Measures 2-14: Except where otherwise indicated (such as measures 4, 5, and 9), the left-hand melody is not intended to be played detached in the least. This style is always legato unless otherwise indicated. The phrase marks in French Symphonic literature are designed to ‘land’ on the first note and carry on to the very last, but that does not dictate a break of any sort. When these French guys want you to break, they’ll write a breath mark or a rest. It’s quite scientific sometimes.

Measure 10: One might extrapolate left-hand detachment here, to match measure 9. And one has to wonder why measures 5 and 9 have a tie but measure 10 has a dotted half-note for the same value. Also in measure 10: play the Pedal F# with the right foot, just like all the other Pedal pairs, so that it doesn’t sound different. Discerning ears can hear that difference!

Measures 5, 9, 10: Pedal ‘stabs,’ both notes, should have exact releases. The French way is to measure that break, probably an exact eighth rest (or sixteenth, if it doesn’t sound too panicked). The note being held in the Great should probably be released as the same time as the second Pedal note, so that those releases don’t sound ragged. The left-hand markings in measure 10 suddenly don’t support the pattern, but I continue the pattern, anyway. There’s just not a compelling musical reason not to.

Measures 17-18: The dotted rhythm in the RH there is possible legato, and Mulet has not indicated anything else. So loosen up those fingers and get ready to cross them over and under each other. There is precious little time (if any) for substituting your way through those two measures. Likewise the left hand a few bars later.

Measure 18: I move the right hand to the Swell for its final sixteenth note, rather than on the next downbeat. Doing so on an eighth gives me more time to make the switch and doesn’t sound panicked.

Measure 48: I ‘thumb’ the alto D with the left hand, to help the right hand with the parallel sixths. Likewise measure 49, for the alto D and Ab.

Measures 52-56: Limber up those ankles and play all those consecutive black notes legato! If there’s room on your pedalboard, the right heel could play the Eb in measure 53. Play the Db in measure 56 with the right toe or the left heel. Heels on black notes in the tenor range don’t always work if the expression shoes overlap the notes (which is a design flaw, if you ask me).

Measure 71: If there is one, I’ll add the Zymbelstern for the recap. (Hey, it’s a bell piece!) I remove the Zymbelstern in measure 99, after one of those chords, either one.

Measure 80: The final alto A in the right hand is problematic for right-hand legato. Solution: since both hands are together on the Great, play that A (and hold it for its eighth-note value) with the left hand.

Measure 82: It’s good news that the left hand is permitted an ad lib there. I take advantage of that to allow a little ‘daylight’ before reintroducing the melody in 83 in the new texture. Likewise measure 94 for the right hand, but to buy time to move the hand to the Swell.

Measures 91-99: The left-hand octaves could be played on a solo reed, so long as the balance is still pleasing. I move that hand back to the Great for the second chord of 99.

Final chord: It’s admirable that the French approximate the ‘boom’ of the big Bourdon bells with Pedal resultants. That works in France. But in the U.S., the fifth of a Pedal resultant is very often too heavy. Instead, I play D octaves in the Pedal and transfer the left hand to a lower inversion of the chord, namely, low A/tenor D/tenor A. In my old age, I have become increasingly less apologetic about making such changes. If something sounds better that way on a non-French organ, then why apologize? No one has ever noticed. I wonder if Mulet would have.

Note by note: Dupré Cortège and Litany

I haven’t combed through a piece since my Franck series. So let’s dig into a piece today:

The Dupré Cortège and Litany is uncommonly beautiful. Dupré was often heavily gothic and chromatic, but this early work seems to come from a young Dupré still being a romantic.

The piece is a transcription of a transcription of an original. It began as incidental music for a handful of players for a stage work. Then it became a piano transcription. Then it became the organ transcription, which was written on a train at a presenter’s request. Then it became an organ & orchestra piece. All that to say that with so many layers of transcription present, I feel emboldened to make tiny alterations here and there, whether to honor Dupré's insistence on wall-to-wall legato or to preserve my hands and wrists against tendonitis. From the scores of times I have performed this piece, I dare any listener to point out the alterations. :)

Measure 1: The opening registration is one of the most optimistic I’ve ever seen. What organ will have those stops, let alone have them on those manuals? We all know that adjustments must be made from organ to organ; the composers are always the first to say so. But what on earth was Dupré thinking here? Not even Saint-Sulpice had all that! Anyway, my opening registration will be on some sort of string. Not too much, because I’m going to bring in the entire ‘string section’ at measure 13. For these first measures, don’t put breath marks where Dupré doesn’t. Wall-to-wall legato was the name of his game.

Measures 4-5: Don’t be a hero with those widely-spaced chords. We can hear the panicked lunging from chord to chord there. Just use a dead Pedal with the manual coupler on to help you through those wide reaches, then you can touch a Pedal divisional piston on the downbeat of measure 6 to bring the Pedal back to life for its bass function. Dupré wants it coupled, anyway, so you don’t have to remove the coupler there.

Measure 9: This is one of those spots where breaking so many voices sounds too much like a major event. I tie the alto C# to mitigate. Depending on the organ, acoustic, etc., that may not be necessary. I do break all repeated notes going into measure 10, since that is a phrase point. Although Dupré doesn’t ask for a breath there, his writing repeated notes creates a break.

Measure 13: I bring on lots of strings there and maybe even a 4’ flute, if it’s gentle enough. A super-coupler would be nice, but only if the chests go that high. I punch the piston for this section on the final sixteenth-note value of measure 12, during which the hands are ‘taking their breath,’ and that also gives the Pedal some crescendo into 13. It’s a nice effect, once you have the piston timing and the manual release worked out.

Measures 15, 18, 28, 31, 33-36: Those ‘Celesta’ moments (the questionable English directive in the score there) can be handled in several ways, I feel. If you have chimes, go for it. If so, I recommend playing only one note at a time, rather than octaves. Also, standard chimes may go out of range in measure 34, in which case you could raise those four notes an octave. Other than chimes, use anything that has some contrast but doesn’t take over the texture – those notes are only rhythmic filler and don’t need to be stentorian. Depending on the organ, I will play only the lower note of the octaves, with a 4’ stop in the mix to produce the upper octave. Bonus: doing that will also make measure 31 easier. Finally, I have found that playing the ‘Celesta’ notes on a manual below that of the right hand will make traveling back and forth a little easier, especially for measure 33, where I do some extravagant ‘thumbing’ to keep everything legato.

Measures 17-18: I am not sold on the sudden appearance of the upper Pedal octave there. Depending on the organ, it’s just too much. On organs weak in the bass, chances are that the Pedal has been strengthened to balance, in which case that upper octave suddenly takes over, however momentarily. Musically, I can’t find a good reason for that, and so I often omit those upper octave notes.

Measures 20-22: I omit the alto C# at the end of 20 and the beginning of 21, plus the ensuing alto Bs in 21. Ditto the alto E in 22. All for the legato of the upper voice.

Measures 20 and 22: I will crescendo a bit (not too much) in those measures. Dupré’s crescendo in 23 seems a little late to my ear, and it’s also harder to achieve there because the Pedal notes have suddenly gotten busier.

Measure 24: I move Dupré’s decrescendo into that measure, again because the Pedal notes are about to get busy in 25.

Measures 30-31: Again, with so many voices breaking across that barline, it can sound like a major event. I tie both left-hand notes while breaking the right-hand and Pedal notes. Notice that the upper G# of the left hand can then tie to the lower note of the right across the bar.

Measures 31, 35, 36: I rarely play the high octaves of the left hand. They are often too screechy.

Throughout the Litany, don’t break where Dupré doesn’t write a rest or a breath mark. And hold all notes full value, even those that lead into a rest.

Measure 49: The right hand can be kept more legato if you can configure the manuals to be adjacent to each other.

Measure 52: Note that the right hand is given a breath mark and the left is given a staccato, both of those suggesting a sixteenth rest, in Dupré’s practice. The Pedal is given nothing, which indicates legato into 53. Multitask with those voices!

Measures 57-60: I reverse the hands there, playing Dupré’s left-hand part with the right and vice-versa. Clever, no? Also, our Positif Cromornes are usually wayyyyyy too loud there (not to mention too buzzy), and so I mitigate that by starting the Litany on a slightly larger registration from the beginning, to balance.

Measures 71-73: For a smooth crescendo, I punch a new piston every two beats, beginning on the quarter rest in 71, all the way through the downbeat of 73.

Measure 73: Dupré is calling for another optimistic registration that only Wanamaker will have. I bring on all the 16- and 8-foot stops I can find, plus a few 4-foots, omitting brighter Prestants. There will be opportunity to add more later.

Measure 76: As in measure 52, decide how you want to handle the various parts at the end of that measure. The closing D-sharps in the soprano and first tenor are melodic and should not be broken. The Pedal is asked to repeat low G#. That leaves the Bs and G# in alto and tenors, which I do break – that seems just enough to acknowledge the phrase break without creating a chasm.

Measure 77: The final eighth rest in the right hand is misaligned in the engraving and should occur with the high C#, with the other two rests.

Measures 77-80: Notice the Pedal voices should release at separate times. The right-foot notes hold to the downbeat, while the left-foot notes release prior.

Measures 85-92: Get out your Gleason book and review pedal substitution and two-plane pedaling methods! I substitute only on the final Pedal notes of 89 and 91. The rest can be done in a two-plane, one-foot-over-the-other situation. This is one of those spots best played from memory.

Measures 85-86: Unless you have a console assistant, you may safely ignore Dupré’s cresc. poco a poco. The hands and feet are too busy there.

Measures 96-97: Don’t break all notes at the end of 96. Always legato with Dupré, unless otherwise instructed. However, I do break the alto Cb, because it is about to become a melodic B in measure 97.

Measure 102: This requires a general piston to reconfigure the organ. You have to separate the Swell from the Great, but we want the Great to remain strong somehow. So this is where I bring in the missing Prestants I omitted in measure 73. This will keep the Great strong, even while it says goodbye to the Swell. I also do not couple the Swell to the Pedal for this entire passage coming up. I can’t come up with a good reason for the Pedal to have all those reeds droning in those strong octaves, while the more important upper parts of the Swell are struggling to be heard (usually on weak American reeds). Although I don’t couple the reeds to the Pedal, I will enhance the Pedal in some way, to keep it from sounding too distant, whether I add to it another coupler or some quiet Pedal reeds.

Measure 103: Dupré calls for full Swell there, but I have found that better clarity is achieved from leaving the 2’, mixture, and 4’ reeds off. A more noticeable contrast between the flues of the Great/Positif and the Swell reeds is clearer without so many additional flue pipes of the Swell mixture playing as well. Plus, that will leave more opportunity for a smoother buildup later on, especially on smaller instruments.

Measures 103-119: I leave out lots of second-alto notes in the Swell, in service to the legato of the melody. You may take or leave these suggestions, but remember that no one has ever caught them from one of my performances! Again, in the name of clarity and contrast, sometimes it’s better to leave something out. (That’s a nice way of saying that Dupré went a little overboard with the notes there.) Here are the second-alto notes I leave out: measure 104, beat 2: alto E and G# / measure 105: alto F# / measure 106: alto E and A / measure 107: both As in the alto / measure 109: alto B / measure 110: alto B and final C# / measure 113: alto B / measure 114: alto B / measure 117: alto E / measure 118 and 119: alto F#s. Also in this entire passage, pay attention to breath marks or lack thereof – always legato unless otherwise instructed.

Measure 108: the Pedal has a breath mark, which I apply to the right foot but not the left. To break them both seems excessive.

Measure 116: the eighth rest in the Pedal is for the right foot, not the left.

Measures 120-121: This is one of those terrifying moments requiring a change of manual and a change of registration, with nearly no available limbs or digits to pull it off. In 120, I make sure the right foot plays E with the heel, which I then slide forward on the note to get my toe over a general piston. Then I am able to punch the piston with the right toe for the downbeat of 121, omitting the tenor F# entirely. That solves that particular problem. The fingering for the downbeat of 121 is another matter: Try playing the final eighth note of measure 120 in the right hand with fingering 421 [stacked], substituting to 532 [stacked]. That frees up 4 and 1 to stretch down to the Great for measure 121. If your fingers are long enough AND if your right toe is accurate with its piston timing, all this can be achieved perfectly legato. As always, that’s worth the work in the practice room.

Measure 124: I punch another general for a little more buildup, depending on the organ.

Measures 125-126: As in measures 52 and 76: decide what you want to apply the staccatos to. Again, it is just too eventful to break everything, especially since some of the notes are sixteenths and will sound too clipped if broken. I break the upper two notes of the right and tie the B. I break the left-hand G# and carry the C# legato into 126. I apply the staccato to the right foot but tie the left.

Measure 127 into barline of 128: Right hand should break the high B but not the A just under it. I also break both notes of the left hand into that barline.

Measures 130-136: I omit the right-foot note to use the foot for punching more pistons, a new piston every other barline. Then I add the right-foot E back in, in 136 or 138 depending on the organ, which makes for a nice continuation of the crescendo. Also for this section, don’t speed up or suddenly take off. This page needs to be grand, not hurried. And be clean about the chordal trading between the hands I release each chord at the same time as the appearance of the next one, rarely releasing earlier unless the acoustic asks for it.

Measures 139-140: I don’t break the left hand into 140. No need.

Measure 140: I return to a tempo again there. The half notes are long and exciting enough, especially if I punch another piston for each, for a final buildup.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 11: Suite Latine and Trois Nouvelles Pièces

This is the eleventh and final installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

The Suite latine and Trois Nouvelles Pièces are up today. Visit my program notes on the pieces. And of course, feel free to order the recording.

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The Suite latine makes me feel like I’m ‘cheating.’ We’re not used to seeing a Widor organ piece that’s not a Symphony, and so I feel like I’m intruding into a forbidden corner of Widor’s mind! These pieces feel like composed improvisations. And if that is the case, then we have a most valuable glimpse into Widor’s late improvisational prowess, of which increasingly fewer people – if any now – have ever heard in person.

If you have been keeping up all this time with these many posts in this series, you’ll notice that the later the piece, the fewer performance comments I have. With the later pieces, Widor was less inclined to revise, and at that point in his life, he didn’t have time to get around to it, anyway. But there’s also something to be said for him ‘getting it right’ the first time later in life.

I have only two comments for the Latine. First, the final two pages are, in the words of my dear friend John Yarrington, “worth the price of admission alone.” Second, I would point out a magnificent ‘Wagner moment’ in movement 1, measures 59-65. As noted before, Widor admired Wagner’s music, and it may or may not be accidental that tiny moments of Wagnerian inspiration exist here and there.

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And finally, for the Trois Nouvelles Pièces: Widor’s indications throughout are enough, and I have no corrections or performance quirks to offer. Not only did Widor have no further opportunity to revise these later works, but he also ‘got them right’ the first time. In some cases, that may be because he was such a sure composer for the organ and did not need to re-infuse works with a more mature style. In other cases, he did not provide quite the volume of in-score indications he had earlier, in which case, the performer is at more liberty there, requiring less commentary here. Just do as Widor said, and given the choice, don’t go overboard with anything.

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I know of no liturgy to wrap this up, and so I’ll simply announce, “Our Widor series is concluded!” (to which many may enthusiastically reply, “Thanks be to God!”).

Widor vs. Joby, Part 10: Bach’s Memento

This is the tenth installment in a series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Bach’s Memento is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order my recording.

I feel these pieces are the hardest Widor wrote – not only because the notes are difficult at times but also because the difference in ornamentation from Bach to Widor may threaten the integrity of either composer’s wishes. Matters get further complicated when one is tempted to use ordinary touch on these pieces (because they’re Bach) but then required to play them legato (because they’re Widor). Honoring one composer snubs the other!

At any rate, there is something insightful about seeing Widor's respect -- indeed his love -- for Bach in creating these paraphrases. Playing them is also an interestingly oblique way to include Bach on a recital program.

I'm still puzzled by the English possessive in the set's title (“Bach’s”). It looks to be Widor's own title, but why did he use the English possessive form for it? Had it been in French, the title would have been something like Memento de Bach. Had it been German, it would have been something like Bachs Memento (no apostrophe). I have found no satisfactory answer to this question. Let me know if you have!

See John Near’s edition for commentary and corrections to the original Hamelle edition. Meanwhile, I'll offer just a few of my comments on a few movements:

Movement II: Miserere Mei …

This one introduces some ambiguous problems of harmonies and note choices, described in John Near’s commentary in his edition. I wonder if Widor had a preferred harmonic function in mind, different from Bach’s. Or I wonder (more likely) if he might have been working from a faulty Bach edition in the first place. Hey, we have learned a lot since then, you know.

Movement III: Aria

This one has registration problems. Manuals are not indicated at the beginning. If the hands play on a single manual, they run into each other, especially in measure 19. Widor also asks for an expressive division for the right hand, which would preclude, say, the Great. I decided to register each hand separately but similarly, more often with 8-foot flutes. The hands move to the Récit Gambe, a nice contrast, where Widor indicates. If the organ has only two manuals, then I would put the right hand on a flute and the left hand on the string.

Movement IV: Marche du Veilleur de Nuit

This is probably the quirkiest thing Widor wrote for the organ. See what John Near has to say.

Movement VI: Mattheus-Final

I’m not sure I could stand the indicated full organ with this piece. The notes are so high that mixtures (in some countries) will just make the neighborhood dogs howl in pain. Depending on the organ at hand, you may do well with full foundations and 8-foot reeds, with little to no 2-foot or mixtures.

Measures 33-34, 45-46, 101-102: In the passages beginning with piano into the crescendo hairpin, I solo out the lowest manual voice on the Positif, having reduced the Positif a bit first to balance. It helps make a smoother diminuendo to the Récit.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 9: Symphonie gothique and Symphonie romane

This is the ninth installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphonie gothique and Symphonie romane are up today. Visit my program notes on the pieces. And of course, feel free to order the recordings.

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Symphonie gothique is an epic piece I recorded on an epic organ. Just wait 'til you hear the Puer natus on the party horn in the back during the Final. Otherwise, I have no additional ‘tricks’ to offer. Widor got these later Symphonies perfect. They play themselves if you follow Widor’s registrations. Read John Near’s commentary in his edition. Without delay.

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I have played Symphonie romane more than once in performance. Each time, the profundity was palpable. It is utterly astounding how a bunch of black notes on a page can bring an entire room together, right into the palm of Widor’s hand. This piece lives in my heart, and I am glad I learned it.

This piece seems to be the prototype for various figurations and rhythmic quirks that later composers such as Vierne, Messiaen, and Duruflé used, as well. I presented some of that at a workshop at the AGO National Convention in Houston in 2016. Fascinating stuff. Maybe I’ll post that here sometime.

See my extended program notes for this piece, and read John Near’s commentary in his edition.

Movement I

Enjoy all the rhythmic trickery, and put yourself in the audience’s position of having to find the beat sometimes. Make it clear, like Widor surely did. Otherwise, follow his markings, and all will be well.

Movement II: Choral

Measure 60: I move the left hand to the Récit on the second 16th. It helps with balance.

Movement IV: Final

Measure 129, final note: If it sounds good, the horizontal reed works well here. Take it back off in the middle of beat 3 of 133 and begin a smooth decrescendo.

By the way, Widor had a formula for crescendos and decrescendos. He said that the various ‘batches’ of stops (represented on the various ventils) should be added on strong beats and retired on weak beats. Since they were almost always brought in or taken out in the same order, then you could calculate how many steps were needed and therefore when to start in one direction or the other. Works for me, but with modern piston gadgetry, we can have even more gradations and can be even more subtle and smooth, much like a German Rollschweller. If you have the technology or smart registrants, be as subtle as you like. Don't rely on the American Crescendo shoe. Rarely is that subtle enough, especially when the instrument's specification is anything but subtle in the first place. Work with what you have.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 8: Symphony No. VIII

This is the eighth installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphony VIII is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order the recording.

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Movement I

My recording of this movement is going to drive anyone crazy who is following along with a score in their lap. This movement is the most patchworked of all in the entire recording project. I use bits and pieces from various revisions given in John Near’s edition. Good luck following along.

Movement II

The A section sounds like Mendelssohn, through and through. The B section has some of those strange registrations that Widor experimented with over the years. It’s very difficult to make it balance in the U.S.

Movement III

See John Near for various corrections. 

Measure 20: This is a canon between the hands. I choose to play the right hand on the Positif, so that the left hand canon can be heard better. Then I move the left hand to the Positif in 29 to balance with the right hand now on the Récit.

From measure 76, the hands are ‘battling’ for some of the same pitches in different rhythms. I choose to separate the hands on their own manuals so that not only can we hear all those pitches, but also the hands don’t have to work so hard. Beginning in 75, I put the right hand on the Récit and the left hand on the Positif. Then nothing changes in 83.

Measure 90: I move the left hand to the Récit, where it now belongs for the upcoming section.

Measures 152-162: Manage smooth pistons!

Measure 190: I move the left hand to the Récit on the downbeat and the right hand on the last eighth. That makes a smoother arrival into 191.

Measures 226 to the end: I use a previous revision of Widor’s. For all the patchwork I use, I always go with what I consider to be the better music each time.

Movement IV: Prelude and Variations

Widor removed the Prelude in later revisions. But it is such wonderful music that I recorded it and perform it. The Prelude is a slow-moving ‘melody chorale,’ while the Variations are more flowing. Perhaps Widor removed the Prelude because the increased slowness of the theme in the prelude (4/4) rendered it unrecognizable against the actual tune in the Variations (6/8). At any rate, consider it saved from obscurity!

The Variations are a huge, sprawling, rewarding set. Have some fun registering them, because Widor's registrations are a bit ... ho-hum. It's not often I completely ignore him, but here is one such example. I have always found it strange that Widor, having presided for so many years at France's largest and most colorful organ, was often ... so ... colorless ... about registration. We do know that he hated too many kaleidoscopic registration changes, but surely he would be amenable to more colorful basic registrations to start with. And for a movement this long with so few registration changes, I just find it wearying on the ears. I suppose this would be a good time to confess that I can't stand listening to the Bach Passacaglia on a single registration, but that's for another blog post that I probably won't write.

Movement VI: Finale

The main theme of this movement sounds like a minor-key version of "A dream is a wish your heart makes." My apologies to the older readers who now have an earworm they weren’t expecting from a discussion of Widor organ symphonies.

Measure 52: I move the left hand to the Positif during this measure. It makes life much easier to arrive in the next bar.

The final nine measures vex me. My recording is of Widor’s last revision, which includes a thrilling moment on a full C-major chord (Neapolitan, for my fellow theory nerds out there). But when I actually performed this publicly, I used an earlier revision, which has another wonderful ‘lick’ I like. I’ll probably change my mind next time, too. See John Near for all these wonderful options.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 7: Symphony No. VII

This is the seventh installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphony VII is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order the recording. 

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Movement I

The main theme of this movement is one of Widor’s most angular. I feel this movement foretells the Vierne Second and Third Symphonies. Compare the first movements of those symphonies with this one and see if you agree. And compare Vierne’s Hymne au Soleil, while you’re at it.

Measure 34: Tempo 108 is FAR too fast. Don’t try that at home.

Measure 40, left hand penultimate note: I feel that should be an E. And honestly, I don’t remember what I recorded.

Measures 126-131: I envision an echo effect there, with the Great playing with the Pedal and the Récit playing the rest in between.

Measures 148-154: I bring the left hand motives into relief by playing them on the Great. All left hand upstems I play on the Great; all downstems with the right hand on the Positif. I also keep the right hand on the Positif through 154. I prefer that dialogical descent before the hands join back together in 157.

Movement II: Choral

Measure 105: I just can’t bring myself to full a tempo. It makes the sextuplets frantic. Had Widor called for just a Flute or something light there, it would be more workable, I feel.

Measures 118-119: Wagner!

Measures 126-127: Isolde! Siegfried Idyll!

Movement III

Measure 95: I move the left hand to the Positif for better balance. Notice what that helps achieve next:

Measures 112-115: Widor needs adjacent manuals for the right hand to help with the left hand’s chords, but he has had the left hand on the Great since 86, which for him was two manuals away, which is ‘un-thumb-able.’ However, with my ‘fix’ in measure 95 (above) in the English/American manual configuration, all is well. 

Measures 116-154: I reverse the hands throughout that entire section, to cut down on crossing. That also makes mm. 125, 134, and 141 easier to arrive on.

Measure 173: I think the left hand should be on the Positif for balance and to facilitate the right hand’s thumbing down from the Récit in 181-182.

Measure 196: If my Positif solution in measure 173 is helpful, then 196 is a good place to move the left hand to the Great. Then it can couple as indicated in 207.

Measures 241-244: same problem as 112-115.

Movement IV

Measure 52: I remove Great-Ped.

Measure 52: Widor indicates Positif above the score, suggesting right hand only. But both hands need to ‘share’ the sixteenths. I move the left hand to the Positif on the final four sixteenths.

Measure 98: I agree with the addition of all the Pedal couplers, but I wait until 99, when the notes begin to move. Otherwise the Pedal drones too heavily before the Pedal gets interesting.

Measure 105: I play the left hand on the Positif until 109, when I move it to the Great. That creates a smoother crescendo.

Measure 116: I move the left hand to the Positif in the middle of the second beat, to continue the decrescendo.

Measures 128-131: Wagner! 

Measures 128-131: I play the left hand on the Great. It brings it out into relief and also avoids finger/voice collisions among all those notes.

Movement V

The Récit has only flutes 8 and 4. I see little need to couple those to the Pedal, and I see no need to operate the box during the passages with hands on the Great. One probably will not hear those Récit flutes swelling in and out against full foundations on the Great. Save your energy!

Movement VI: Finale

You’ll need lots of pistons to manage the ups and downs of dynamics. The smoother, the better.

The beginning puts me in mind of Vierne’s occasional modality. The hands ignore the third of the chord, the V chord is minor v, etc. Then notice at 33 the continued similarity with the Final to the Vierne Second Symphony: after the huge opening, then there is a subdued but faster and rhythmic main theme on the Récit. One wonders if any of this was accidental on Vierne’s part.

Measures 123-125: I play the left hand on the Positif to avoid voice/finger collisions. This works better if the Positif is under expression and closed tight.

Measures 215-216, 223-224, 227-228: I play the left hand on the Positif to avoid collisions between fingers.

Measures 235-end: John Near’s edition gives Widor’s various revisions for the ending. I feel Widor’s final revision wanders around too much. I recorded Widor’s first major revision, which I find utterly thrilling, despite some fairly jarring octave parallelisms between the Pedal and the lowest manual voice. Call it hubris if you like, but see if you can figure out what I did on my recording to ‘fix’ those, and then ask yourself honestly if you would have noticed otherwise.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 6: Symphony No. VI

This is the sixth installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphony VI is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order the recording.

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Movement 1

Measure 80: I move the left hand to the Récit there. I don't see the need to have that melody in so much relief by leaving it on the Gt.

Measures 94-98: I like to keep those right hand chords legato, which would necessitate some assistance from the left hand. But the left hand is usually not in the neighborhood to help out. Solution? Pedal plays left hand in these measures, with all necessary Pedal couplers on and no pedal stops. I do that all the time in Franck.

Measures 139-140: nice place for a Tuba on all but the chords. Worked awfully well at St. Mark’s in Shreveport!

Measures 141-142: nice place for a Tuba on all notes, if it sounds good. (And again, it certainly did in Shreveport.)

Measure 244, beat 4: I know this might be considered hubris, but I leave out the Pedal low C. It makes for a smoother transition into "running out of notes" on B in the next measure. Give it a try.

Measures 250-252: More hubris: I see no need to play the right-foot notes. I restore the upper octave on the quarter note in 252. It makes for a more exciting finish to add those notes back in there. It also allows low C to speak more fully in 250-251, without the foot having to leave to get to G.

Movement II

Work carefully – there are a lot of notes and a lot of voices needing beautiful, independent treatments.

Movement III: Intermezzo

Become a machine and keep the staccato absolutely spotless. Allow the organ and/or the acoustics to determine the tempo, and live with that. Once you have tempo and articulation under control, then you can make music. 

Measures 87-98: Widor has been fastidious about staccato markings up to this point but doesn’t mark left hand and Pedal staccato in these few measures. But at the organ, a suddenly longer note means a suddenly louder note. The sudden presence of legato eighth notes in this sea of staccato sixteenths would draw all attention to those notes. That would be nice with a real melody, but the problem here is that the left hand and Pedal are accompanimental and don’t deserve all the attention. Therefore, with apologies to Widor for making assumptions, it makes more sense to keep them sempre staccato to prevent them from completely vanquishing the right hand. Ditto these same measures in the recap.

Movements IV and V:

No comments, believe it or not. Just do what Widor says. And check John Near for a couple little note corrections.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 5: Symphony No. V

This is the fifth installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphony V is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order the recording. 

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I have played this entire piece countless times in recital. Audiences routinely report to me a new perspective on the Toccata, not only when they hear the rest of the Symphony in front of it, but also when they hear it played at Widor's desired tempo.(!)

Movement I

“Franckian” problems abound in the more chordal passages in this movement. When to tie? When to play legato? When to break? I started that discussion with Symphony I, mvt. VI. I’ll not enumerate the myriad decisions I have made here but would encourage you to listen very carefully and make good decisions for yourself. Note Widor’s staccatos vs. slurs. The rest has to be decided.

Measures 12, 17, 263, and 267: Remember the ‘trill discussion’ for Symphony IV, mvt I? Well, we need to have it again. Most performers execute the trills in these measures as mere pre-beat grace notes. I feel they need more substance than that, and I try to squeeze at least two ‘wiggles’ out of them. And I can’t resist commencing them on the beat, which is contrary to the prevailing style of the day (pre-beat).

Measure 114: This section need not be a stampede. Even my producer told me to slow down. Imagine.

Measure 125: That is a nasty manual change. Not only do the hands have to exchange manuals, but also the left hand has to displace a tenth in the process. I have three solutions to offer:

1) Take your time and change manuals. Easy. Maintaining a solid tempo will not be possible, so take your time and make it musical. But if you want to impress others who play this movement, try these two additional, more radical solutions:

2) I make the manual change earlier, on the 4th beat of 124, where the fingers are in a better position to "reach" for their next manual. But in the process, I also exchange parts, where the right hand now plays the notes written for the left hand and vice versa. Beginning on that beat, the left hand now plays the upper treble clef on the Récit, and the right hand plays the lower treble clef on the Positif. The notes are still being played on the proper manual, just by the opposite hand for four beats. By the time I reach beat 4 of 125, the hands are already on the manual where they are headed, and they can resume their own written parts once again.

3) An even more radical solution is to exchange the hands’ parts as above, but now starting in 121. Then at 125, they just exchange parts rather than exchange manuals.

Measure 164, beat 4: I remove Great-Ped to keep it from droning while the hands are on the Positif. I restore the coupler on beat 4 of 168. I remove it again in 176, beat 4.

Movement II

Widor originally wrote this as a ‘da capo’ movement, where the entire first section returns following the B section. In his revision, which most people play, he shortens the return. While I love measures 39-70 and their homage to Mendelssohn, I agree with Widor that the movement is too long with a full da capo, and I recorded his shortened version.

This movement also contains an example of a brief ‘prelude’ to the movement proper. The first system is one of those tiny, short passages that Widor writes only once and never refers to again. And it is not based on a motive from the movement. Similar treatments come to mind, such as the opening to Symphony VII, movement III, or the opening of Symphony VIII, movement V, or the closing of that same movement, or the very end of Symphony III. A lot of those examples are good music that we never hear again. I particularly lament the mere single dose of the opening to Symphony VII, movement III.

Measures 124-126 and 291-292: many performers go double time there, I've discovered. Count carefully!

Movement III

The opening sounds like “Heart & Soul.” Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Movement IV

Aside from large chordal sections in the more epic movements, Widor tended to write contrapuntally, and this non-epic movement is a near-perfect exercise in four- and five-part harmony. Throughout the movement, pay attention to the notes you feel should be tied and the ones you feel should break. Sometimes, the part writing is such that many voices break at a time, which sounds like too much of an 'event.' At other times, not enough movement in the voices costs momentum in the overall pace. Listen carefully.

Measures 7 and 8: each of those measures contains parallel fifths.(!) Each example is from beat 2 into beat 3, between tenor and alto. Normally, I would ‘fix’ that, as I did in measure 222 of the Franck B Minor Choral, but I leave these alone.

Measure 21: It would be clever to bring the tenor out in relief on another manual, but you’d need very long fingers to do the ‘thumbing.’ It's possible only if the manuals are constructed close enough together on the console.

Measures 25-27: You’ll need to make a number of decisions about which notes to break and which notes to tie. And notice how carefully Widor chooses the note values in the left hand in 27.

Movement V: Toccata

Very little need be said, other than ‘slow down.’ Consult John Near for Widor’s final wishes regarding articulation and tempo. Once you ‘lean on’ the first note of each measure the way Widor ultimately decided to ask for, you’ll understand just how powerful that really is, particularly in the recap. Don’t bother trying to achieve that same effect in a dead room; save your energy for other pieces.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 4: Symphony No. IV

This is the fourth installment in my series on my take on playing the complete works of Charles-Marie Widor. See the first post in the series for an introduction and my philosophies behind this blog series. And as always, refer to John Near’s edition for important corrections in the scores that I might not necessarily mention.

Symphony IV is up today. Visit my program notes on the piece. And of course, feel free to order the recording.

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Symphony IV was my least favorite at recording time, but hey -- a guy can change his mind.

Movement I: Toccata

No, not that Toccata. The first two movements are an ‘old-style’ Toccata and Fugue, Widor’s nod to his pedagogical forebear J.S. Bach. (We won’t go into how tenuous that pedagogical pedigree is, but the two do share a mind for technical details, that’s for sure.)

There are quite a number of corrections in John Near’s edition. Depending on which version you’re playing from, you may be missing some ornaments, and you may have lots of wrong notes in measures 35-37, among other places.

Careful with the tempo. Sixty is perfect, which you will discover in the thirty-second and sixty-fourth notes to come. Those need to be crystal clear, and a too-fast tempo will destroy them.

Okay, we need to talk about Widor’s trills. By his time, ornaments were executed before the beat and beginning on the main note, whereas in “earlier” times, they were executed on the beat and on auxiliaries. Perhaps most folks play the trills in measures 6, 8, 10, 12, etc., as little more than pre-beat grace notes consisting of the main note and the upper neighbor and back. I have trouble accepting that as Widor's intention. I like to think that had he meant that, he would have written the actual grace notes. (We’ll have this conversation again for the trills in the beginning of Symphony V.) At any rate, I try to get at least two “wiggles” out of each trill in this Toccata. That requires musical time, but the good news there is that Widor had no patience for scurrying. And knowing that he is nodding backward to Bach with these first two movements, I sometimes can’t resist beginning ornaments on the beat. Who will find it in their heart to forgive me?

Measures 13-16 and other places: Careful with dotted eighths followed by two thirty-seconds. Make sure that the 32nds sound like real rhythms and not like arbitrary grace notes. Widor made his choice of notation between the two, so keep the rhythm clean accordingly.

Measure 18: Maintaining legato is easier in the beginning of this measure than the end. The later notes there and going into m. 19 (also 48-49) have a martial flavor, and I feel a certain liberty to detach them, despite Widor's absence of such markings. I know that I have been preaching the legato gospel, but even I can’t resist temptation sometimes.

Measure 21 into 22: To eliminate hand crossing, I find it easier to play the last two notes of the right hand with the left hand and play the Great chords with the right hand. Ditto measure 23 into 24.

Measure 32: I crescendo to prepare for the mezzo forte in 33. Notice that the crescendo can then continue naturally with the changing manuals.

Measures 38-39: The left hand has the recap melody there, and so I keep the right hand on the Positif to allow the left hand ‘out.’ I restore the right hand to the Great on beat 3 of measure 39.

Measures 46-47: John Near has an interesting notion about some possible engraving craziness there. I choose to play these measures a piacere but with the beat never far away.

Movement II: Fugue

Measures 14, 16, 21, 23: If you’ll refer to John Near’s edition, you’ll find some manual change options that Widor indicated in different pencil colors in his revisions. For the record, I like what Widor indicated ‘in blue.’

Movement III: Andante cantabile

Although original, this movement sounds like a Scottish folk tune that Widor borrowed. I have trouble keeping the grace notes in Widorian style, pre-beat. They just seem to want to be played on the beat most times, to my ear, as in the tune “Her name was Barbara Allen.”

Measures 27, 31, 39: The alignment of the sixteenth with the final triplet would not be unheard of. One always has to be careful with those, lest they sound frantic otherwise.

Measure 48: The change of Great registration will be heard in the Pedal, since that coupler is still on. I mitigate that by removing the coupler in 47. I also make the move to the céleste on the final three eighths of 47. It makes a smoother transition to the new registration.

Measure 57, beats 2-3: the octave parallelism between melody and first tenor seems particularly glaring to me. There are lots of little parallelisms in this entire passage, but none quite as “loud” to my ear as this one. I left it unchanged, despite the theory professor sitting on my shoulder.

Measure 58: The Pedal’s second note sounds ‘good’ as good goes, but it seems it ought to remain D-flat. Again, the theory professor on my shoulder says, “A V7 chord is weakened if it proceeds to V.”

Measure 64: Holding all those Récit notes is impossible if the manuals are not adjacent for thumbing, which they were not for Widor. But what's a Frenchman to do? But even if the manuals are adjacent, the notes Widor is asking to be sustained on the Récit are spread past a normal handspan, when one has to sacrifice a finger to hold the melody A-flat on the other manual. I had just enough finger length for the left hand to hold the first five sixteenths (from F up through Ab). But what's the non-contortionist to do?

Movement IV: Scherzo

The registration for this movement was the most problematic of all in my recordings. It’s virtually inaudible, and for all the notes that have to be practiced for this movement, it's almost not worth it! Seriously, I had to open the box quite a bit, because the Great 16' kept covering up the Récit closed tight.

Measures 53-54 and 188-189: I'll bet that if Widor had had high F# and G on his pedalboard, he would have written them in the Pedal here. So I recorded it that way! Given the sparse registration, it amounted to only one extra pipe per note. So don’t have me arrested.

Measure 116, beat 4: The Pedal rhythm in the upper voice is different from its sisters in measures 100, 104, and 120. Error? Composer prerogative? I recorded it as written.

Measures 130-135: An expressive Positif is assumed here, but Widor didn't have that. I suppose he could have played those measures on similar stops on his Récit and then made a quick change in 135.

Measures 242-243: Those reaches in the right hand are impossible without some left hand assistance just before the leap, which would have to be offered from an adjacent manual. Man I/II Transfer to the rescue once again. But what's a Frenchman to do?

Movement V: Adagio

The organ where I recorded this piece has a “nanny goat” stop (Widor’s pejorative term for the voix humaine, which he nevertheless calls for here).

Measures 53 and 57: I reduce the Pedal and/or Pedal couplers to balance. As always.

Measure 68: It is possible to assume the right hand lower voice remains legato while the upper is staccato. When Widor goes to the trouble to give two voices separate stems, he also uses separate articulations. But not always. Sigh.

Measures 102, 103, 107, 108: In a slow tempo, staccato could mean three-quarter value, rather than half value. I opt here for three-quarter value, holding those quarter notes for a dotted eighth, rather than an eighth. It gives them a little more ‘bloom.’

Movement VI: Finale

The cadences (measures 14-18, 58-62, and 135-140) in this movement are taken directly from Mendelssohn (whether or not Widor would admit to it!). I’d say the even more uncanny Mendelssohn moment is the second movement of Symphony VIII, but we’ll get there later.

This is another one of those movements where manual chord detachment may be assumed due to the grand style but is never so marked. I opt for detachment on quarter notes and dotted rhythms, and legato for eighth notes.

Measures 71-74: I recorded an earlier revision for these measures, given in John Near’s appendices for this Symphony. History allows us to do that now, especially if the earlier version is just too good to miss.

Measure 87: The Pedal is fully coupled, but the hands are only on the Récit. One might think that the Pedal has some sort of melody there, but it’s not so. And so OFF with the Pedal couplers!