Note by note: Dupré Prelude and Fugue in A-flat

This is an extraordinary piece. I think it’s the finest of Dupré’s six Preludes and Fugues. The Prelude churns and alludes to the Fugue to a high – but not overdone – degree, and the Fugue is one of the most beautiful pieces ever composed for the organ. Dupré is not his usual gargoyle self here but rather a picture of nobility and soaring melody. Don’t know what came over him.

Before we begin: Graham Steed’s book The Organ Works of Marcel Dupré is a most helpful guide for history, some performance advice, and so forth. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously – imagine encountering humor in a book on Dupré.

Opening registration: In the U.S., I leave the Swell mixture off. The reeds are often enough to create the manual contrasts we’ll need, particularly if the Choir/Positif is weak by comparison (and it often is in the U.S.).

Measure 4: The Final D of the left hand should probably be D-flat. See Graham Steed.

Measure 11: I add the Positif to Pedal, if it needs it.

Measure 16: Graham Steed suggests the Great to Pedal remain off, in case that helps the balance. He suggests adding it in 24. At 16 he also advocates moving the left hand to the Great and the right hand to the Positif for this passage, to improve the balance. I concur, but I move the left hand to the Great at the final three sixteenths of measure 15. Easier to “thumb” that way. The hands can then follow the published manual indications again from 24.

Measure 22: The second F in the alto should be an eighth note, not a quarter. And if you don’t have the high A-flat and B-flat notes Dupré writes (and he didn’t either), then just play from the fourth beat of 22 without 8va. You can recover at the third beat of 24.

Measures 26-29: I achieve a bit more gradual decrescendo by:

- taking the final alto B of 26 with the left hand and moving the right hand to the Positif for the downbeat of 27;
- taking with the right hand all manual notes of the fourth beat of 27, plus the first sixteenth of 28;
- then moving each hand in turn as published in 28 and 29. 

Measure 32: Graham Steed recommends moving the dim into the middle of 33. I concur.

Measure 42: Graham Steed suggests the first D# in the left hand be D natural. I concur.

Measure 44: If you don’t have the high A# in the right hand (and Dupré didn’t), just play that one note an octave lower.

Measure 63: I move the right hand to the Positif there, to keep those higher notes from screeching so much.

Measures 73-75: In the interest of a more gradual decrescendo, I would play the left hand on the Great in 73, then on the Positif in 74.

Measures 74-76: The left hand and Pedal are vying for the same pitches, which makes some notes ‘disappear.’ Just remove the Pedal couplers (and beef up the Pedal a bit, if the sudden loss of the couplers renders it too weak).

Measure 93: I remove the Pedal stops and couple Récit and Positif to it, to help with the wide reaches. Pedal can be restored in 94.

Measure 98: Graham Steed and I agree the Pedal G should be G-flat.

Measure 102: I don’t play the left hand low A-flat. With a note that low and that quick, who’s going to notice? I feel the first-tenor subject statement there is more important than risking a misfire with rapid substitution after the low A-flat.

Measure 106: I remove all Pedal couplers, especially the Swell. The Swell is required to add stops in 108, but there is no need for those to transfer to the Pedal during its ongoing decrescendo.

Measure 108: I tend to leave the Swell 4-foot principal off, to keep the Swell from growing too much there. We still have a long way to go.

From here on, obey Dupré’s every staccato marking. If not marked staccato, then legato. And if one hand has one voice marked staccato and another one not, then your finger independence is about to get the workout of its life.

Measure 121: The second eighth notes in left hand and Pedal are not marked staccato. Misprint? Also, the final E-flat in the second tenor appears to be marked staccato. Dirty engraving plate?

Measure 130: The final eighth note in the right hand appears to be marked staccato. Dirty engraving plate?

Measures 134-136: I achieve a more gradual decrescendo by moving the right hand to the Positif on the downbeat of 134 and the left hand on the second half of beat 1. Then I move the left hand to the Swell on the downbeat of 135. I move Dupré’s Swell growth onto the sixth sixteenth of 136, so that the Swell growth doesn’t transfer coupled to the Pedal.

Measure 141: I move the left hand to the Positif on beat 2, rather than in measure 144.

I execute tiny crescendos via pistons at 147, 156, and 162, before the bigger growth begins in 169. These little growth spurts are only for a lingering Prestant here or another 8’ there. Maybe a small mixture here or a light reed there or a heavier Pedal 16’ there. Just a little something here and there to begin filling the room.

Measure 150-152: In the interest of a smoother crescendo, I take the first sixteenth of 150 with the right hand and move the left hand to the Positif on the second sixteenth. Then I move the right hand to the Positif at 152.

Measure 158: Graham Steed says the right hand first note G should be staccato. I concur, but I also say it should be G-flat. And the high B-flat on the downbeat is legato.

Measure 160: I believe the first two eighth notes of the left hand should be staccato, and that the final eighth of the left hand (B-flat) also be staccato.

Measure 161: ditto the final two eighth notes of the left hand.

Measure 163: I believe there is a ledger line missing on the second eighth of the left hand. That should be E-flat.

Measures 163 to the end: If you don’t have that high A-flat (and Dupré didn’t), then you’re missing out on one of the most sumptuous moments in organ literature. The French are forgiven, but American builders are not.

If you have been keeping score, you'll notice I have dealt with three of Dupre's six Preludes and Fugues. Those three -- B, A-flat, and C -- are my favorites. I have not learned the others and am having some trouble imagining doing so. Forgive me. (Or change my mind?)

Note by note: Dupré Prelude and Fugue in C

Memorizing is hard work. And it’s time-consuming. But it’s worth it, because memorized performance always sounds better (assuming the music was solidly memorized in the first place). Memorizing this prelude and fugue is not to be taken lightly, and it must be constantly refreshed. I believe that the chromaticism of the prelude and the close strettos of the fugue just make this piece a memorization nightmare. Not even the Vierne 6^th or the Clérambault first Suite was this tricky!

Well, that’s that. Below are some of my insights into playing the piece, memorized or not:

Dupré’s fingerings and pedalings are welcome, although I changed quite a few to fit my own hands and feet. I wonder what he would have thought. Sometimes he goes to an unnecessary amount of trouble with substitutions, whereas I could just tuck a thumb or cross a long finger over another.

Graham Steed’s book has excellent insights into all of Dupré’s organ music. He knows of a couple corrections for the C Major that Dupré confirmed post-publication (measures 27 and 179, mentioned below). I see several additional opportunities for consideration, all mentioned in turn below.

Measure 12: The final eighths in the manuals will have to be released early to be repeated in measure 13. Dupré would have prescribed a sixteenth-note break, but if you’re playing slower, you might delay that to the thirty-second-note level with some success. So long as it doesn’t sound panicked. Ditto the second eight note of 19 and the final eighth of 38 and 39 and isolated notes in the right hand of 52-54. Ditto lots of individual Pedal notes in measures 2, 4, 9, 26, 28, 40, 43, 45, and 65.

Measure 13: I believe the final A-flat in the left hand should be A natural, since there are two A naturals against it in the right hand, plus the A-natural quarter note in the Pedal. Crunchy chromaticism aside in this Prelude, outright atonality or the prolongation of what sounds like a wrong note is probably a misprint.

Measure 27: According to Dupré/Steed, the final G of the right hand should be G-sharp. I concur.

Measure 33: Curious that Dupré does not reverse the Pedal couplers here like he did for a similar texture in measures 16 and 51. That’s probably because in 35, the right foot will be more melodic there than textural before. By 43, the Pedal is back to ‘normal’ in this configuration. In 60, the Pedal is once more melodic, but with the Récit coupler rather than Great. I doubt any of this is a misprint, but it is nevertheless noted, and the performer may have to do whatever it takes to preserve good balance. As we all know, the lower end of Pedal eight-foot flutes and bourdons can be notoriously weak in the U.S., so you may have to go into various contortions to keep the upper Pedal notes from being too loud but the lower notes from disappearing completely 

Measure 35: The right hand is on its own for legato here. I don’t try to disguise wide intervals with what my teacher Clyde Hollway called the “omigod” way of trying to achieve legato where legato is not possible for most hands. So I just lift the thumb proudly, note by note, until the intervals shrink back down to something more manageable. That is even more pronounced in measures 59, where the white/black key pattern makes detachment even more necessary. I’ll take a detached sound over a panicked sound any day.

Measure 43: The first eighth (E-flat) of the left hand is not the same interval it was in corresponding passages in measures 2 and 15. I wonder if that E-flat should have been a G instead. If so, then the entire passage (42-43) would match its sibling measures 1-2 and 14-15, interval for interval. For the record, I have not changed that E-flat in performance; I just raise the question here. Misprint?

Measure 56 is engraved strangely. The half-rest in the Pedal most likely applies to the upper voice in the Pedal, which has been resting since the previous measure. The lower voice has a half-note, which lasts the full measure, but its stem is pointing up. I believe the stem should be pointing down to continue to signify the lower voice, and that the note be held for the entire measure.

Measures 69-70: The left-hand stab accents are a bit jarring. Was Dupré just asking for an early release? If so, he might have used a staccato, as he did at the beginning of 69. And I don’t know how much “accent” one should be expected to get from the light registration. Was Dupré asking for only the top note to be released early and the other two notes of the triad to move legato? Who knows? I’m still experimenting.

The Fugue is a nightmare for finger/voice independence. Make sure you’re obeying Dupré’s staccato and legato markings exactly.

Measure 109: Third beat, I move the right hand to the Swell as instructed, but I move the left hand to the Positif, for greater relief of the subject. I’ll move the left to the Récit for the downbeat of 115.

Measure 115: The soprano is legato, but not the second soprano. This legato lingers all the way into the downbeat of 123, including the manual change.

Measure 124: The pedal is still legato, which suggests a full-value second beat, against the staccato second beat of the manuals. So far, that hasn’t sounded ragged to me. Similar mismatches occur in the B Major fugue, so it’s not unheard of. Dupré’s exacting markings and performances are testament.

Measure 134: The left hand note values are incomplete. The final E-flat should probably be an eighth note.

End of measure 137: Both soprano voices are now legato, all the way to the rest in 143.

Measures 149-157: Legato here, staccato there. Watch Dupré’s markings, especially for the isolated staccato voices. And release legato voices exactly on rests, not early.

Measure 158: The downbeat is still legato, which means full value to the rest. 

Measure 159: Second and third beats: notice that Dupré has written a long note value there, asking for a longer length to the tie. Otherwise, all is staccato.

Measures 167-173: Hardest part of the piece, if you ask me. I’m dying here.

Measure 179: I move the left hand to the Positif on the downbeat of 179, rather than 180, so that I don’t have to negotiate a potentially awkward manual change after sextuplets. Third beat of 179: I move the right hand to the Positif, one beat earlier than instructed. Since the fugue subject begins on the 3^rd beat, it just makes sense there. Curiously, Steed/Dupré says that the left hand should remain on the Great there to the end of the piece. That doesn’t make sense to me until 190.

Measure 189: I move my right hand to the Great a beat early. Although that is not a subject statement, moving on the third beat of 189 would retain the third-beat start pattern.

Measures 197-204: I find it dangerous for my hands to work so hard. Those bouncing/traveling chords would all be hard enough to play, anyway, even without the Pedal scurrying up and down. I redistribute the notes and leave the hands in one position. That introduces issues of finger independence but it would remove the issue of hitting cracks with so much quick repositioning from chord to chord.

Measure 218: Dupré didn’t have that high C at St-Sulpice. If you don’t, either (and if you’re in the U.S., then why not?!), solve it any way you like.

The Great upper work and reeds, the Pedal upper work and reeds, and the manual 16s are not employed at the beginning of the Fugue. Dupré does not specifically call for registrational buildup except by way of his fff in 197, which to the French meant simply ‘full organ.’ But surely he would allow some sort of buildup along the way from his opening registration. I suggest some growth at the third beat of 137 (which may have to be reversed somewhat in the Pedal for 161-173). Depending on the size of the instrument, I suggest further growth at the third beat of 173, the second beat of 184, and the third beat of 189, plus the required full organ at the third beat of 196. Finally, I don’t see the point of holding something in reserve for 216 – the pregnant pause and the thick notes themselves are excitement enough.

Note by note: Dupré Prelude and Fugue in B

This piece is played a lot. Maybe too much. It’s flashy, but only if you’re the organist. If you’re a first-time audience for it, it’s either thrilling or it’s mush. That’s a nice way of saying that this piece is often played far too fast for its musical merit. Dupré’s metronome markings were notoriously (and impossibly or at least un-musically) fast, and he never achieved them on his recordings, anyway. Metronome markings were (and are) usually included at publisher’s insistence, and they are quite useless most of the time, going all the way back to Beethoven. So just don’t look at them, ever. And for the record, my tempo for the Prelude hovers around 90, and that for the Fugue hovers around 70.

Measures 1 and following: The opening flourish pattern has two instances of common tones: the B from the 6^th to the 7^th sixteenths, and the B across the barline. These can be tied; I don’t feel the sixteenth-note motion suffers from that.

Measures 4, 6, 8, etc.: The Pedal eighth rests may not be long enough if your tempo is really fast. You may need to release those a bit earlier to ‘clear the air.’ Always beware a sense of ‘panic’ to the sound.

Measures 6-7: The sixteenth-note motion has repeated notes across this barline. I tie them.

Measure 13: On the eleventh sixteenth, I take the alto G-sharp with the right hand, which allows the entire sixteenth-note pattern to remain legato into measure 14. And as we all know, any lengths we go to in order to preserve legato in this style is worth the time in the practice room. Don’t be lazy.

Measure 26: I would configure the organ in such a way that the two manuals you’ll be traveling back and forth among are adjacent to each other. Put in some clever ‘thumbing,’ and legato will then be preserved.

Measure 35: The addition of the Pedal couplers is necessary, but on many organs the Positif or Choir is so weak that its presence or absence is immaterial. I add only the Great to Pedal there, so that I don’t have to hit two couplers nor sacrifice a General piston.

Measure 36: I take the final sixteenth with the right second finger, thereby preserving legato in the sixteenths.

Measure 39: I take the final sixteenth with the right thumb, thereby preserving legato in the sixteenths.

Measure 42: I take the right-hand lower Fs with the left hand, to keep the thumbs out of each other’s way. Ditto the first E in measure 43.

Measures 57-65: Feel free to establish a gradual crescendo to your liking. Dupré just adds ‘cresc.’ in 59. I delay the FFF into 68, not only to add to the continuing crescendo, but also because there are no limbs left to hit a piston for the downbeat of 65. And I never sacrifice notes for pistons. Ever.

Measures 93-100: Same crescendo freedom as in measures 57-65.

Measures 100-102: Hold your horses. That pedal cadenza is still music.

The Fugue subject begins on an off-beat. Be sure it sounds like that. Don’t dwell on the first note – rather, arrive on the fourth note (the beginning of the second beat). Then release the quarter note in such a way that the next morsel of the subject is suitably propelled ahead.

Get those feet ready for their first subject appearance! Do your ankle exercises and prepare the first four notes all at once, heels and toes.

Throughout the Fugue, obey Dupré’s staccato markings. Any note without a staccato is to be played legato to the next note. And obey Dupré’s note values, such as in measure 111, where soprano and alto have different values on their first note.

Measure 113: The final C# in the left hand should probably be released early for the next downbeat. The A# need not be, since it is not going to be repeated.

Measure 114: The first C# in the left hand should probably be released in preparation for its re-striking on the next eighth. The upper F# need not be released early.

Measure 116: The first D# should probably be released early to allow for the restrike coming up in the soprano.

Measure 118: The alto G is common to two sixteenths in the middle of the measure. I tie it. Ditto the alto E-flat in 120.

Measure 122: As mentioned for measure 35, the Positif or Choir is often so inconsequential on many instruments that managing its coupler to the Pedal is much ado about nothing. I don’t employ the coupler for this Fugue until the end. Also in this measure, notice Dupré’s exact staccato marking on the first eighth note but not the second.

Measures 123-124: Again, obey Dupré’s exact staccato marks in the Pedal. Yes on beat 4 of 123; No on beat 1 of 124.

Measure 124: I take two notes with the right hand to preserve legato: beat 3 alto G#, and beat 4 alto A#.

Measures 129-151: It might be good to consider a good tempo for these measures before beginning the Fugue. This is where many organists lose their audience due to excessive speed. The rhythm is so vibrant in this section that it sounds plenty fast at a more humane tempo. And again, I just have to take issue with Dupré’s metronome marking – or at least sympathize with him for publishers’ myopic insistence on metronome markings. Italian tempo markings are always much more expressive and informative.

Measure 131: I move to the Récit there, instead of the Positif. It allows the left hand to be heard better at 133.

Measures 138-139. I tie all the common notes among the moving sixteenths.

Measure 140: Notice the staccato first eighth but full-value second eighth. Ditto measure 141.

Measure 144: I take the final two sixteenths with the right hand to smooth out the transition to the next manual. And I do agree with the editorial C# added above the final manual chord.

Measure 149: I take the final sixteenth with the right hand, to smooth out the transition to the Positif.

Measure 151: I take the third and fourth sixteenths with the right hand, to allow the left hand to get to the Great.

Measure 152, downbeat: Again, take Dupré quite literally with his staccato markings or lack thereof. Notice that the final soprano E of 151 will proceed into 152 legato, which in this case probably means tying. And notice that the Pedal low C will proceed to the F# of 152 legato, which means you’ll need the right foot prepared on F# (unless your left foot is really long and its ankle really flexible).

Measure 154: Beat 3, the left hand high F# will have to be released early, because the soprano is about to need to restrike that note. But don’t release early the remaining notes of the left hand there.

Measure 157: Beat 3: The final C# in the right hand will need to be played quite short, to allow the alto to use that note next.

Measure 160: Again, taking Dupré’s legato literally, the final two chords of the left hand should be legato.

Measure 161: The first chord of the right hand might well omit the lower G, since the left hand needs it for its sixteenth-note pattern.

Measures 166-168: The manual chords are not staccato there. They are real sixteenths and should be no shorter. And this section need not go faster. Again, with so much happening at the sixteenth-note level in this piece, a relaxed tempo still sounds fast. And exciting.

Measure 168: The final lower C# in the right hand may be taken by the left.

Measures 169-170: Tenutos are always a guessing game with these French guys. If tenuto means ‘to hold,’ then why can’t the usual, underlying rule of legato suffice here? Therefore, I believe that Dupré’s use of tenuto there actually means ‘release.’ At any rate, it makes sense to release these chords early, to add to the excitement. Dupré is rarely so careless with rhythmic indications.

Finally, if you are playing on a three-manual organ that really should have been two, you could relatively strengthen the Positif by not coupling it to the Great. That would give you some degree of contrast among the three manuals. Of course, couple the Swell to both manuals.

If all you have are two manuals, then you get to decide when you’ll move to each manual during the Fugue. My adoptions are:

Measure 125: Left hand to Great.
Measure 137: Récit.
Measure 145: Great. And stay there in 146.
Measure 150: Récit.

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.