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.

-------------------------------

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. 

-------------------------------

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.

-------------------------------

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!

Widor vs. Joby, Part 3: Symphony No. III

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

------------------------------- 

For what it’s worth, this Symphony works beautifully as a complete and rather profound Lenten series recital. (On the other hand, the last time I played it, no one applauded – I believe they saw the name ‘Widor’ in the program and were expecting the Toccata. Sorry, wrong number.)

Movement I: Prélude

Since the American Positif tends to be weak (or conversely, since the Récit and Great are often strong enough), I don't bother with the Pos-Ped coupler in this movement. I toggle the other Pedal couplers on and off quite a bit to maintain proper balance, noted below.

Widor calls for the Pedal 4-foot, but that is often too heavy against the Récit or Positif passages. Be willing to substitute something else or leave it out entirely. Couplers to the Pedal can serve as upperwork enough.

Measure 29: Widor calls for piano. Rather than subito, I choose to close the box gently during measure 28.

Measure 41: I remove the Pedal couplers to balance better against the Positif in 42.

Measure 48: I restore Réc-Ped.

Measure 53: I restore Great-Ped.

Measure 59, beat 6: I remove Réc-Ped, so that the change to the Clarinette is not heard in the Pedal and for better balance with the Positif in 62.

Measure 67: I restore the Pedal couplers (except the Positif, as explained above).

Measure 89, beat 2 or so: I remove the Great-Ped to balance.

Measure 96, beat 2: I restore the Great-Ped.

Measure 115: I remove the Great-Ped.

Measure 138, beat 2: I restore the Great-Ped.

The above is a lot of fussy changes, but in the interest of balance, it’s not too much to ask. I have never played this movement at St-Sulpice; perhaps Widor’s original indications work better there...

Movement II: Minuetto

This movement is hard! You’ll need to do your wrist flexibility exercises. :)

Watch and listen to the staccatos carefully. 

The balance between the manuals will be tricky, especially at measure 54, where the feet can do nothing more about it if it’s not perfect.

Movement III: Marcia

If your audience is expecting the Toccata, tell them to look here!

You’ll need lots of general pistons to achieve smooth crescendos (53-57, 123-127) and decrescendos (72-75).

Measures 29-30 and 40-41: I hear Wagner there. Widor liked Wagner’s work, and although compelling, there is no guarantee that any similarities were deliberate.

Movement V: Final

This may or may not be important, but Widor spells this one ‘Final,’ whereas he may spell it ‘Finale’ in other works.

Measure 2: Notice that the fermata was in measure 1. Measure 2 should resume tempo, and the chord should then be released just right to propel into what follows. I wouldn’t hold the fermata any longer than it takes to close the box. If you hold it too long, it becomes its own event, which is unnecessary there.

This movement was a mature addition in a later revision, and so it is more sophisticated in its writing and expectations. Throughout this movement, take Widor at his word when it comes to rhythms. Release every note exactly where he writes it. Notice how carefully he ties notes and completes beats with eighth rests. That is tedious work, and he doesn’t go to that trouble for the fun of it. We should pay attention.

Measure 49, beat 7: I remove the Great-Ped, to keep it from droning too heavily during the Positif/Récit passage. I restore it in 51 for the Pedal melody. From there, that coupler goes on and off several times: off in 59; on in 64; off in 125; on in 133, last beat; off in 150, beat 7.

Measure 151: I remove the Réc-Ped in preparation for the piano ahead.

In the States, chances are good that the Positif [Choir] is too weak to hold its own with a melody against the Récit. Therefore, I will play the left hand on the (perhaps reduced) Great in measures 169-171, 173-175. At 177, place the left hand where it sounds best to you. It does not have any melodic interest there, but you may need it to remain where it was before, in order to hear clean rhythm on those descending notes.

Measure 181: This coda is one of those gut-wrenching moments that will stay with you; it is transcendent music. You may want to experiment with a reduced Récit there. Sometimes full Swell reeds and mixtures are just too much for the solemnity of this coda. I remove the mixture and the 2-foot and any 4-foot reeds. That leaves the 16-, 8-, and 4-foot fluework, the Trumpet, and the Oboe. Depending on voicing, I may remove one of those reeds.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 2: Symphony No. II

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

-------------------------------

Movement I: Praeludium Circulare

Interesting that Widor gives this movement a Latin subtitle, rather than French. He did nothing lightly, and so there is probably a message there. Perhaps it’s a nod toward the movement he added in a later revision, the Salve Regina?

This movement unfolds with a repeating motive, much like a motive you’ll catch over and over in a movie score. I have only one comment for this movement: In measure 37, Widor appears to indicate the move to the Great on the C natural in the soprano. I make the move on the next note, the Db. It allows a smoother transition for the fingers and prevents that C from sounding so important for so long.

Movement II: Pastorale

This movement is probably the most salon-like of the ‘salon’ style these early Symphonies are accused of having. The melody here is unabashed in its charm and downright impishness.

Measures 2-4 exhibit the nagging issue of staccatos marked and unmarked. In this measure, the left hand staccatos suddenly disappear. Knowing Widor’s fastidiousness about articulations, I feel that is not an oversight. Had he intended the staccatos to continue, he would have either written them (more likely) or indicated simile or some such. Look through the movement at the other staccatos that he indicates and does not leave to chance. Therefore, I play the unmarked notes in this movement legato unless otherwise instructed. I have never heard anyone do it that way, but that seems more faithful to Widor than to make assumptions.

Ditto measures 7-8, 59-66, 74-77, 94, 96, etc. Again, it’s no trouble for Widor to add those little dots on these relatively few notes, had he wanted them. On the other hand, it would have been helpfully indisputable for him to have indicated legato, just to make sure! Next time I see him, I’ll ask him.

Measure 18: Changing Positif stops there as Widor indicates would affect the Pedal still playing, since Pos-Ped has been on since measure 9. I delay that registration change until beat 2 in measure 19. Then the Pedal may be adjusted to taste for measure 21.

Measures 30-31: I remove couplers and maybe a stop or two to create a diminuendo into 32. Then I re-adjust the Pedal for 34.

Measure 42 should be on the Récit, and the Pedal should balance appropriately. John Near’s research confirms that. Be sure to check his edition for important corrections, always.

Measure 50: Ditto from measure 18, but I also reduce the Pedal during that time, anyway, to prepare for the piano in 52.

Measure 85 should continue the dialog between Great and Swell. Again, see John Near.

Measures 92-97: The Great Flute (left hand and unenclosed) seems a little strong against the Oboe (right hand and fully closed). I feel a return to the opening registration is in order there. That would necessitate reducing the Pedal and/or removing the Great-Ped, plus moving the left hand back to the Positif at some point, which I choose to do on beat 10 of measure 92.

Movement III

To my ear, measures 4, 8, 40, etc., beg for a full break between phrases. But Widor doesn’t call for a break there, which we have to remember when dealing with these French guys. Franck excepted, when they want you to break, they’ll write a rest or a breath mark. Otherwise, legato it is. That is also why I go to so much trouble to smooth out manual changes, as well. Examples in this movement of opportunities for smooth manual changes are measures 67-68, 69-70, 76, etc. I believe that too many performers add a full break when they see a change of manual, but it’s no more than adding instruments in an orchestration – just because the trumpets are coming in does not mean the winds need to take a breath and the strings stop their bows!

Measure 127, beat 3: I add Great-Ped. I remove it again in 131. Again, I am always ‘managing’ Pedal couplers to keep things in balance. On Widor’s instrument and similar, that probably is not so necessary, but he would understand – so long as things sound good, he would be happy with any changes made. I should note here that he would not approve of constant registration changes just for different colors (hint, hint), but he would certainly approve of reducing the Pedal to fit.

Movement IV: Salve Regina

This movement is one of those later additions that doesn’t fit with the other movements in the least. This movement is completely serious, while the rest of the Symphony is, to my ear, the lightest of all. Nevertheless, I recorded this movement and not the original Scherzo it replaced. It was a decision between the more stylistically congruous movement (scherzo) vs. the better music (Salve Regina). Perhaps I could have recorded both, but that didn’t feel like a good fit, either. We’ll have this conversation again, with a different result, with the Eighth Symphony. This conversation brings up the ‘purist’ approach to recording every note Widor wrote for solo organ vs. recording every piece the way he left it, while leaving out the sillier pieces (such as the Marche Nuptiale and Marche Americaine, which I refused to record!).

Movement VI: Finale

This piece is more wickedly detailed than many would care to admit. We have the recurring vague staccato issue, which in this case is that the final note of a slur (second note of each measure at the beginning here) should not be shortened unless specifically marked. But then that would create a rhythmic mismatch between the hands: on the second beat of each measure in the beginning, the left hand has a fully-held quarter note, while the right hand is now in staccato eighths. But Widor would not want to hear separate releases of chords – he considered that ragged. Therefore, I do shorten the left hand second beat by an eighth, releasing it with the fourth eighth note in the right hand. Sound like rocket science by now? Just listen carefully and make good decisions. If Widor had wanted the left hand second beat to be super short, he would have taken the time to notate it so.

Measure 9: The stacc. indicated there should instead be simile. See John Near.

Measures 17-18 and 21-22: The hands are not uniformly marked staccato, neither against each other nor against the patterns already established in the first few measures. But we can make the assumption to continue as previously marked. Widor sometimes marked only the first few instances and left it to the publisher to continue. See John Near.

Measure 28-30: I suppose most performers separate the manual chords and play the Pedal legato, but the argument may be made that Widor's lack of articulations demands legato. However, we all know that sometimes full-chord writing makes legato impossible, such as the march movement in Symphony III or the first movement, measures 220ff, in Symphony V. But even when legato is possible (and it is possible here), the character may allow an unwritten liberty to detach such obviously martial chords. Me? I split the difference, detaching measures 28-29 and playing the cadence into 30 legato. Ditto for the similar sections later on: measures 48-50 and 98-100.

Measures 150-152: Many performers make the ties as instructed but detach everything else, even the companion whole notes. But again, in the strict sense of ‘all legato unless otherwise instructed or otherwise impossible,’ I’d say the entire whole-note chords might be better served legato. By maintaining the top note of the whole-note chords, you achieve sort of an ‘echo’ effect against the topmost soprano in the right hand.

Widor vs. Joby, Part 1: Symphony No. I

This is the first 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.

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

-----------------

Widor never hesitated to revise earlier works. He revised the first eight organ Symphonies a number of times over the years, yielding multiple editions. From one perspective, revision was a good thing, as it increased his baseline maturity across more works. On the other hand, it sometimes left a large work with uneven style or lapses in quality, not to mention a new crop of engraving errors at every turn. John R. Near to the rescue, with his exhaustive edition of all the organ Symphonies, available from A-R Editions. Get out your credit card and get the entire set.

All that to say that each Symphony “grew” on me in different ways. Had Widor left them all unaltered over time, I would probably have a predictably greater fondness for the later works, maybe even disdain for the salon-like youthfulness of the earlier ones. But with glimpses of mature genius in the earlier works due to his revisions, there are pockets of sheer bliss in all these pieces. Therefore, as it turns out, the First Symphony is one of my favorites. It is a bit long and dense, so I'm not yet sure if I could keep an audience's attention for the entire work, but I might try one of these days. As I told John Near, “The Fugue alone is utterly miraculous.”

Movement I, Prélude

Beginning: Widor calls for Réc-Ped but not Réc-Great. The Récit has only flutes 8 and 4 in the beginning, but on Widor’s instrument (and all over France) that’s audible enough to make a difference! He wanted only 8-foot on the Great, and that’s that. Here in the States, coupling the Swell 4-foot flute is not is not such a big deal because on many organs, that stop is either inaudible (therefore useless) or stentorian (therefore useless).

The articulation in the very first measures gets some rather interesting treatments. Some performers interpolate staccato on notes where Widor didn’t write them. He marked only the third and fourth notes of each four-note group in the Pedal staccato. That means that the second note into the third note is still legato. Had Widor wanted the last slurred note (the second) shortened, he would have added a staccato marking to it.

Furthermore, the manuals have no staccatos written; therefore they are legato. Had Widor intended anything else, he would have been fastidious about the markings. He made no assumptions when he wrote staccato throughout the entire movement in the Pedal. Therefore, there is no reason for him to assume that the performer would do the same thing in the manuals without specific instruction. Lesson: the French are very particular about their articulations. If you break after a slur when it is not so marked, you’re mixing German and British spices into French soup, and that’s not allowed!

Measure 21: Don’t hold the first beat any longer than one beat, so that the Positif entrance can be heard.

Measure 25: For matters of balance, I remove Great-Ped for this section, restoring it in measure 38. Widor didn’t mind such adjustments; someone like him was certainly cognizant that no two organs are alike. If the balance is good, then Widor would be pleased. I’ll be saying that a thousand times in this series.

Measure 29: The hands return to the Great there, but I don’t restore the Great-Ped coupler just yet. It makes a nicer appearance in 38, where it begins the ‘fugue’ subject again, this time against all three manuals coupled together (for the first time).

Measure 38: I add more Pedal here, just because.

Measure 70: This is the ‘recap.’ I prepare it by taking seriously the marked crescendo in 67 and by holding back in 69. Notice that the hands have not yet returned to the Great there – the Pedal begins the recap, as it began the movement.

Measure 80: Widor suggests full Swell (Récit) there, plus fully closed box. But he has left the decision of exactly when to close the box up to the performer. I close the box gradually throughout measures 78-79. But Widor also does not indicate exactly when to add full Swell. That has to be decided carefully, because it will affect any notes being played at the time. The third beat of 80 seems an obvious place so that the soprano can begin the phrase, but to add it there would render the third beat too much of an ‘event’ in the left hand and Pedal. I choose to add it precisely on the fourth beat, where something new is beginning in the soprano. It would be nice to add it on the downbeat of 80, where the left hand begins a new statement of the main theme, but again, that would render the right hand and Pedal suddenly too ‘important.’ Perhaps another organist might play that left hand statement on another manual with a grander registration. That would be a little fussy but okay with me.

Movement II

Careful getting too sentimental with this movement. The music is sentimental enough and risks being overblown if you sentimentalize the rhythm, as well. Widor was all about balance and cleanliness, not wallowing!

Measure 15: I reduce the Pedal to balance the Positif.

Measure 19: Caution: right hand remains on the Great.

Measures 23-28 are tricky. Too fast, and they sound frantic. Too free, and they sound directionless. Those measures just have to be perfect, I guess! In all seriousness, these measures might have to be your primary determiner of the opening tempo, so that the fast notes are in perfect proportion and sound like they actually belong.

Measures 44-54: Depending on which edition you’re using, you may need some corrections of quite a few notes. See John Near’s edition.

Measure 53: I remove Great-Ped for balance against the Récit. (There is a note being held there in the corrected version.) 

Measure 136: I add Réc-Ped for better balance during the Récit crescendo. I continue to ‘toggle’ Pedal couplers on and off throughout this movement and throughout all the Symphonies; by now, you get the idea. It’s always about balance, and Widor knew that.

Measure 164 into 165: Widor has a vague notation there in the left hand. The lower E-flat is tied. To most eyes, that means ‘break the other notes,’ right? But not so fast: 1) the right hand was given a quarter rest – why not the upper notes of the left hand? Widor appears to want them treated differently (as in not broken?). 2) The higher E-flat in the left hand may tie to 165 – it’s not important enough to break, as if it were a melody of some sort. And if you do break it but not the D-flat under it, then the D-flat suddenly takes on more importance than it deserves. 3) The other two voices in the left hand may move legato into 165. Experiment with all this. Don’t forget: from Widor onward, legato unless otherwise instructed.

Movement III: Intermezzo

My brain thinks ‘soothing’ when it sees ‘intermezzo.’ Not at all so here. Neither in Symphony 6.

Widor left out the Pedal coupler indications at the beginning, but it should probably be Great and Réc to Pedal. He also left out manual coupler indications. See John Near, and see what the music says to you, too. And again, I’ll change Pedal couplers here and there to balance.

Notice that Widor places a tenuto on the first note of each measure. He also did something similar in his revision of the famous Toccata. He is trying not only to give each downbeat some strength, but he’s also trying to help the performer understand that ‘excessive speed kills.’ His metronome marking is far too fast, not only for the acoustics he was used to but also for the pipes to speak. It was common for him and others to extol the rapid repeat rate of Cavaillé-Coll actions, which was indeed nice, but the pipes themselves will still need some time to move the air and speak completely. My tempo is approximately 108 on my recording. Acoustic and organ action will always dictate the proper tempo, and Widor knew that.

Measure 47: I close the Réc there, to hear a more pronounced dialogue with the Positif.

Movement IV: Adagio

Throughout this movement, I use the Pedal to help with wide left hand reaches. It requires lots of pistons to cancel Pedal stops and add the necessary couplers so that it sounds like the left hand, and then to return the Pedal to its own function. But I am a champion of legato at all costs, and so I use the technology available to me. Were I ever to play this piece in France, I would owe my registrants a nice dinner afterward.

Measure 25, beat 4: I remove the Great-Ped for balance. Ditto measure 44.

Measure 64, beat 8: I move the right hand to the Récit there. It makes a smoother transition.

Measure 67: According to the location of his directive within the staves, Widor asks both hands to move to the Positif. But the notes are so thick with ties there that there is no ‘clean’ way to do that. Therefore, I never move the left hand at all, and I move the right hand to the Positif in measure 68, beat 3 (tied to 4). That also creates the fringe benefit of matching more closely Widor’s similar manual terracing beginning in measure 71, this time with Great against Positif.

Movement V: Marche Pontificale

Shameless piece! Don't be shy.

Measure 24: For my recording, I’m afraid I misread this measure as the first measure of the first ending, which meant that for the second ending, I skipped it and went straight to m. 29. But when I discovered my error, I still kind of preferred my way! And so the error remains on the recording. Widor, please forgive me.

Measure 68: I smooth out this manual change by moving the left hand to the Great for the last three sixteenths.

Measures 77-81: use your pistons generously for a smooth crescendo! Ditto 180-190.

Measure 104: I play the alto voice on the Positif to enhance the diminuendo.

Measure 153: Widor does a most curious thing here, using the Pedal to assist the left hand with large leaps. I don’t recall that he ever does that again. I reduce the Pedal and add all the Pedal couplers so that the 'drop-off' for the lower notes is not terribly noticeable. It was nice of Widor to write that measure that way to assist the left hand with those wide leaps, but if he’s just using the Pedal to help with those quick notes, then I feel the registration should match more closely. Furthermore, he doesn't always show such mercy with wide leaps, such as in Symphony IV, movement 3, measure 36, left hand, or Symphony IV, movement 4, measures 242-243, right hand.

Measure 220: The left hand jump into measure 221 is treacherous, and I don't like shortening the final sixteenth triplet to get there. I smooth that out by moving the lowest manual voice of 220 to the Pedal so that the Pedal is now in octaves. That glides smoothly into 221, where the Pedal is already in octaves. Sneaky am I.

Movement VI: Méditation

This movement lays bare a recurring decision between when to break and when to tie/legato. The repeated dotted quarters of the first few bars are easy enough to perform, but in measure 4, where there is now presumably legato motion available between notes, does one play legato when possible and break repeated notes? Or does one retain the fully broken notes that the first three measures established? My ear wants to maintain that broken feel as a gentle "pulse" for the piece, even though the presence of moving notes makes breaking no longer necessary. Nevertheless, for my recording I took the “purist” approach: In measure 7, from the first chord into the second, I took the upper and middle left hand notes legato and broke the lowest note. Moving into the next chord, I tied the Cb as instructed, broke the Gb, and played the Eb to Db legato. There are many, many examples in this movement (and the entire genre) of that ‘division of labor’ within a single chord, where each voice may require separate treatment depending on its role in the moment, and I feel too many performers don't pay enough attention to details like that. I like to think that no amount of obsession with those details is too much.

Movement VII: Finale

Measures 57-61: Widor moves both hands to the Positif, but given the fugue subject in the left hand beginning in measure 58, I prefer to move only the left hand. My right hand will join on the Positif in 62.

Measures 80-81: lots of pistons!

Measure 106: For my recording, I gave in to a nagging desire to end this piece without so many reeds in the Great and Pedal. Widor doesn’t indicate a decrescendo, but on the particular organ I recorded on, it just sounded better to back off for the end, just like Widor did at the end of the Gothique and the Romane. Widor forgive me -- I don't re-write your music so boldly very often!

Widor vs. Joby: Introduction

My arguments with Charles-Marie Widor have been numerous and intense. He demands much of the fingers and feet, but he always demands so much more of the brain, the ears, and the soul. He always wins the arguments, as should any composer. But I also win because I learn so much.

I recorded all ten of Widor’s solo organ Symphonies, plus his later works Suite Latine, Bach’s Memento, and the Trois Nouvelles Pièces. That makes me a Widor expert, right? Well, it certainly makes me more fortunate than I ever thought I’d be. I never thought I’d be learning my way through all those works, many of which had previously just sat in my growing score collection for many years. I never thought I’d experience this transcendent music rendered even more transcendent on the organs I chose to record them on. So NOW I’m an expert, right? Sure.

For this music, I have already written about the recording sessions and the organs I recorded on. In the present series I’ll be offering the many tiny refinements I made for myself to what’s on Widor’s pages, much as I did with Franck a few years ago. I’ll address my approaches to them all, one opus at a time, until they’re done. Meanwhile, here are some general comments and methods:

----------------------------------

In his Bach edition co-edited with Albert Schweitzer, Widor constantly admonished the organist to make their own decisions, indeed to search out their own path to decisions. Widor was careful to remind that his editorial was truly editorial and not absolute. He also allowed similar freedom in his own music, depending on the organ; not every gadget existed on very organ, and not every note could be played the same way on every organ. And let’s not forget that the organ Widor was used to was an anomalous, whopping five-manual monster, whereas his given registrations are for the more conventional three-manual organ.

In much French Symphonic organ music, coupler indications are not included with the registration directives at the top. Rather, you have to look into the score for coupler hints. “G.P.R.” in the manual staves indicates, “Play on the Great, and couple the other two manuals to it.” “P.R.” means, “Play on the Positif with the Récit coupled to it.” “G” means, “play on the Great with nothing coupled to it.” And so forth. For all movements in all the Widor works, I scribbled coupler indications among the stop registrations. That saves a few seconds when registering on the next organ.

Friend, Manual I/II Transfer is your friend. And in my book, “friend” is anything that helps makes manual changes smoother. “Thumbing” among manuals is a thing, even back to Bach and earlier. In the English or American configuration, where the Great manual is in the middle, it is possible to “thumb” to either of the other manuals. But Widor's Great was on the bottom, and so he was able to thumb from the Positif in either direction, but from the Great only up to the Positif. But not so fast – he couldn’t even do THAT, as it turns out, because he had, for lack of more room to explain it here, TWO Great manuals, which means that his Positif was the THIRD manual up, and his Récit was the FOURTH manual up. So virtually all thumbing I do in Widor is just because I can and not at all because Widor necessarily could.

Therefore, whenever I am compelled by a small, inner voice to make a change to venerable music, such as the slight alterations I'll be sharing in this series, I do so by first considering how the composer might have played a certain passage, given the instrument they played regularly. Once I have done that and have determined that I can make use of a slightly different method or technology on another organ, then I make the change and the notation, exclusively in the interest of clarity of voices or of manual change convenience. (I don't re-compose the piece.) I make a very great number of little changes, none of which should be felonious but all of which add a little more polish to things.

A few additional thoughts:

1) Widor was not exhaustively researched until John R. Near came along. Do yourself a favor and get Near’s two books on Widor's life and thoughts on organ playing, plus Near's editions of the Symphonies (A-R Editions), and the Bach’s Memento (Crescendo Music Publications). You won’t be disappointed; you will be overcome in equal parts by Widor’s genius as well as Near’s exhaustive care in reporting.

2) Recordings of the Symphonies abound and are still being made, and I haven’t found a bad one yet. Pick one. Or four.

3) Widor’s music “translates” differently when recorded vs. performed live. Many live performances offer excerpted movements only, whether to allow more time on a program for other composers or because the performer doesn’t like all movements of an opus. I have gone the excerpt route only twice. Now I’m a believer in all or nothing. I like to perform the Bach’s Memento and Symphonies 3, 5, 6, 8, and Romane in recital. I’ll be working to get No. 7 and Gothique planned on future programs. The others (1, 2, 4) are no less wonderful, but they have a harder time “fitting” into my programming.

4) For what it’s worth, I’m entitled to a least favorite, am I not? Number 4.

5) My favorite? It’s a tie between Romane and Number 8.

Franck-ly speaking, Part XII: Fantaisie in C

This is the twelfth and final installment in a series on my take on playing the twelve large works of César Franck. Today’s topic is the Fantaisie in C. See the first post in the series for background information.

********************

This is the first of the big twelve that Franck published. Clearly it is also the most primitive. You can see him trying to expand things, which he did in spades in the next piece, the Grande Pièce Symphonique. Here we have a mini-symphony, three short movements played without pause.

Measures 7-8, 11-12, 47-48: Those hairpins should be tiny. Listen carefully to the effects there. All Franck had to do was tap a bit on his spring-loaded swell lever, and the box would swell and shut in a short moment.

Measures 17-40: The canon should sound the same in both voices. Don’t make one voice linger for the other; each has to carry its own baggage!

Measures 29-40: The right-hand melody is a counter-melody. I would make its contour fit in with the canon still going on in the other voices. In other words, don’t dwell on this melody at the expense of the more structural activity going on under it.

Measures 58, 60: Keep counting. No fermatas.

Measure 73: I would be very conservative with the box and the fermata here. It’s only a half-cadence, not a sandwich break!

Measures 82 and 162: I would suggest that after the fermata, cut off the chord in tempo. That would help propel the melody into the next measure.

Measures 213-end: No 32-foot stop? Play the entire Pedal part an octave lower. (Interesting that Franck wrote it the way he did, as if he knew it could be an option to play it 8vb.) But then you’ll need to figure out what to do about that low B in 233. Look around and see if you’d like to move to the tenor range for more than just that one note. For example, you might play loco from 229 and then switch back to 8vb from the third beat of 233.

And with that, Franck’s first piece has been covered last in this series. And his Final was covered first. There is nothing dramatic about any of that – I just learned and wrote about the pieces in the order I wanted to!

Franck-ly speaking, Part XI: Grande Pièce Symphonique

This is the eleventh and penultimate installment in a series on my take on playing the twelve large works of César Franck. Today’s topic is the Grande Pièce Symphonique. See the first post in the series for background information.

********************

I love that cop-out title Franck came up with. He was trying to help the organ grow up as a recital instrument, and he composed here what became the French prototype of the solo organ Symphony. And the best he could come up with for a title was “Big Symphonic Piece.” I just love that.

This piece (the GPS in my casual references) seems to be the most experimental piece Franck wrote. It continues an idea of short, multiple movements played without pause, which he explored in his first published organ piece, the Fantaisie in C, which I cover last in this series). The GPS is the only one of its kind in Franck’s output, and it was early in his oeuvre, yet it was in a new style that his successors seized on and took the organ world by storm with. Because it is so experimental, it is full of…uh…experiments. Franck was testing this idea here, that idea there, pulling here, pushing there. As a result, this twenty-some-minute piece is absolutely full of melodic fragments, repeated ideas, and expanding formal structure. The greatest danger lies in all the fermatas (of which I count 23, an average of one every 25 measures, plus an additional 7 instances of Franck writing a pause via extended rests without fermatas). Franck is constantly coming to a halt here, pausing there, lingering there. The piece is much like an improvisation, an approach to which could be a life-changing experience. The number of fermatas is not excessive, but I have heard performances where we could order pizza during the pauses! And so if you’re not careful, this piece could end up sounding like a glorified organ demonstration, which would kill not only the piece but also the listener.

Technical difficulties aside, the GPS is so motivic and fragmented that it may represent the biggest musical challenge of the entire series. I have performed this piece only once. I learned it in college in 1990 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Franck’s death. My teacher and the studio were able to perform all twelve works in three recitals during a wonderful weekend of study of French music for organ and for organ and brass. I also wrote a paper on this piece in grad school. I was using it in a Grundgestalt analysis, as well as a complete formal analysis. (Made an A+ on it. Still have that paper, of course.) But I have not been moved to re-present the piece in public since then, until I started on my way through all twelve pieces. It’s a tough piece to pull off due to the difficulties discussed above, and I have never been satisfied with live performances I have heard, so I have been slow to try my hand at it as a professional.

This piece is long, but it recycles themes. Therefore, it might help you (and your listeners) if you have an overarching goal in mind. Decide exactly where you want the piece to make its thesis statement. There are several choices, such as the first appearance of the main theme in 64, the re-visitation of all primary themes beginning in 424, the only appearance of the main theme in major mode beginning at 472, or the tenor solo suggesting a Tuba (which Franck didn’t have) beginning in 540. In any event, if you can keep looking ahead (or back) to the “thesis” you define for the piece and keep fermata overload in check, your audience will survive it better.

Beginning: This is not the main theme. It’s a “stitching” theme that introduces the whole piece here and ties various sections together later. Because it is important background but not primary foreground, don’t dwell on it too much; the real meal will arrive in 64! Nevertheless, this introduction has some beautiful moments in it – measures 43-56 are perfectly ravishing.

Opening registration: You may need to adjust registration to make the melody audible.

Measure 6: This, too, is introductory material, but it will be elevated in status later on by being given its own intermezzo of sorts beginning in 192.

Measure 25: The introductory theme finally gets to roll along without stopping. If you discover that you tend to move the tempo here, then consider using that same tempo at the very beginning, at least as a subtle background guide to everything up to this point.

Measures 35-41: Be sure the left hand and Pedal trade off evenly, without blurring or breaks between notes, and without changes in tempo.

Measure 60: Franck says non troppo e maestoso!! Sometimes I want to stand up and say that aloud in live performances.

Measure 64: Notice that Franck is notating in exact rhythms what later composers would do with staccato marks, with the directive in their teaching and publications that staccato notes to the French organist are simply (and exactly) half-value. Since Franck uses exact notation, then the more exactly those notes and rests are presented, the better.

Measures 70, 90, 100, 123, 131: You’ll need to decide for yourself if you want to separate those half notes like the separated eighth notes and eighth rests throughout the rest of this main theme. I can go either way and have no biased advice.

Measures 113-117: Be sure all cutoffs are consistent among the parts!

Measures 139, 141: Notice that the manuals cut off, but the Pedal continues legato.

Measures 192 and following: This might not need to go as fast as you might think. I believe that your desired tempo at 231 should guide selection of tempo for 192. Throughout this entire section, be sure the right hand stays absolutely steadfast in its rhythm. We don’t want the higher note of any given beat in the right hand to be mistaken for the beat. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Measure 261: It is so very tempting to play this movement Largo, but he marked it Andante. The quarter note must rule the tempo, and if you trust that as you go, then the movement makes more sense. Use your preferred tempo at 277 to determine tempo at 261, and then don’t speed up in 277 just because the texture gets easier! This movement is also difficult because Franck registers the melody on a non-expressive division (at least for the organ he played regularly).

Measures 277-281, 297-301: I don’t break between manuals, but I have no objection to breaking.

Measure 303: Strange registration! Go with it and see how it sounds. Don’t take this section as fast as it looks – those sixteenth notes are not textural – they are melody! Perhaps your preferred tempo at 343 should dictate the tempo for 303.

Measures 343-374: If you discover that this section keeps slowing down, it’s probably the left hand’s fault. The initial sixteenth rest on each beat tends to get overblown after awhile, which grinds everything to a halt. A good fix is to listen to the melody and require the accompaniment to keep up, rather than try to move the accompaniment along on its own steam.

Measures 410-415: The right foot has a decision to make between lunging for each note and just breaking proudly and gently between notes. I’ll take detaching over panicking any day.

Measures 417-418: It’s rare to see an accented note in organ music (how do you execute that?). Franck could just tap his box lever open, and the box would swell and then spring shut again. You can experiment with your own swell shades and see if you can achieve the same effect. Depending on the organ, the room, and your creativity, you may be able to play the accented notes on two manuals and then release one of them before the second beat. But that seems much ado.

Measures 422-423: The Pedal notes will disappear if you don’t have some independent 8-foot stops drawn for them. (Franck doesn’t call for pedal couplers there, anyway.)

Measures 472-500: Some performers just can’t seem to play this section fast enough to suit themselves, and others of us are blue in the face from pointing out that Franck wants this theme played much more grandly than it has been up to this point. This is the only time this theme appears in major mode, and it’s in the rather grand-but-dark key of F-sharp. I beg you – don’t confuse this section with the Sowerby Pageant! You can pick a faster tempo at 502.

Measures 540-569: The left hand part in this section begs for a solo party horn of some sort (which Franck didn’t have). But if you do and it’s not too brash, go for it. I recommend playing it through the downbeat of 570 and then moving off of it.

Measures 582- 587: Legato pedal and detached manuals seems instinctive to a lot of players. Go with your instincts.

Measure 592: Those three beats of rest bother me. I’m always afraid someone will mistake them for the end and start to applaud. On the other hand, the piece is over, and so I had better prepare those rests perfectly. The choice of tempo from 582 will be very important for pacing through 592 and for proclaiming that the piece really is over.

Measures 593-594: Franck’s voicing of those chords has been discussed by others. They are indeed strange, and it can leave the listener wondering if it’s really over. I do not advocate adding extra notes to “fill things out.” I believe your handling of all that has come before will be crucial toward making this last page make sense and concluding this most epic of all of Franck’s organ pieces.

Franck-ly speaking, Part X: Choral in A minor

This is the tenth installment in a series on my take on playing the twelve large works of César Franck. Today’s topic is the third Choral in A minor. See the first post in the series for background information.

********************

This is the last organ solo piece we have from Franck. The popular perception is of him finishing the manuscript on his deathbed. Whether or not that is accurate, we do know that he was fighting an infection and died soon, and we also know that this music is the crowning achievement of Franck’s quest into transforming the organ into a concert instrument capable of playing its own symphonies. This is a profound piece indeed, and there is absolutely no shame in approaching it as a sacred treasure every time you sit down to it.

Of the three Chorals, this one is probably the easiest to play. That’s all relative, you understand; none is truly easy. And everyone will have his own opinion on which Choral speaks to him most deeply. This one speaks to me, if I listen to it through the lens of it being Franck’s final notes written for the organ. But my favorite Choral, indeed my favorite Franck, is the E major.

Measure 1: I would suggest that the opening tempo be determined by how you would like to play measure 30 and following. That is the real Chorale, and perhaps the ideal tempo for that should be transferred to the beginning. More often than not, the beginning is played far too fast, especially in proportion to the rest of the piece. This is neither a toccata nor a cadenza. The piece has something to say in the opening notes, and there might even be a phrase or a nuance or two to be had in this section. Give yourself time for them. And be very precise with the difference in length between sixteenth notes and eighth notes as Franck wrote them.

Measure 5: Metrically speaking, the last note of this measure is very unimportant. Therefore, it destroys the pregnant pause that follows when this note is held even slightly past its value. Other examples are measures 7, 14, 16, 18, 52, 54, and 56. I can tell that a performer is listening to every note (or not), based on their treatment of these cutoffs.

Measures 16 and 18: Notice the fermatas are on rests, not on notes.

Measure 27: Franck initiates the ritard here. Many people start it in 23, but that overblows all these quarter notes starting in 26 and makes the section interminable. Allow Franck’s slower rhythms to be their own slowdown on some level.

Measure 30: One should probably resume tempo here, so that we can discern the melody (which is the real Chorale). Otherwise, it’s just chords.

Measure 39: I take the alto E-flat with the left hand and then use (dead) Pedal to assist with legato on the third beat.

Measures 91-96: Don’t start this section too slowly. It will get tedious and labored otherwise.

Measure 96: The fermata is on the final note of the outgoing registration, not on the first note of the Adagio section. I would make the pickup from 96 into 97 be in your intended tempo.

Measures 97-116: This slow chorale (arguably not the Chorale in this piece) is among the most excerpt-able moments we have from Franck. Be sure the melody notes don’t blur together. If they do, it just makes that Trumpet loud and muddy. Play every note right where it belongs. I would suggest treating this section like Chopin, where there is a general pulse in the background that is stretched and compressed here and there but never loses count. Finally, in too many performances, the player gets stuck on the ties in the melody (96-97, 98, 99-100, 105-106, 107-108, etc). But it is directly on a tied note where the melody needs to regain its momentum after the longer note that precedes it. Listen, listen, listen.

Measures 117-141: This is one of those sections that needs to be “perfect,” plain and simple. Too slow, and it languishes in its repetitiveness. Too fast, and it takes the limelight from what follows it.

Measures 143-145: Don’t speed up. You’ll just have to slow right back down in a moment.

Measure 146: The fermata is on a rest, not on the manual note!

Measure 147: I put my left hand on the Récit to avoid sharing middle C among the hands and breaking eighth notes into two sixteenths. In 153, I bring the left hand back to the Positif.

Measures 147-173: Try entertaining the notion of a subtle accelerando, all the way to 173.

Measure 170: I move the right hand to the Great on beat 3. That’s a safer spot to move that hand accurately, and it doesn’t interrupt the flow into 171 that way.

Measure 173: The registration instructions appear to be aligned with the downbeat in the editions I have used. But I would suggest that that piston be hit on the third beat, to coincide with the first note of the “chorale” climax.

Measures 190-199: Of course, legato with manual octaves is impossible. I feel it is most unfortunate that composers for the organ write full chords or octaves for hands and then mark it all legato. The French are pretty sparing about that; when, say, Widor or Guilmant wrote full octaves and chords, the style was already march-y or heroic, so you knew that it would automatically sound right. But Franck was still experimenting. [The British are utterly notorious for such writing. It’s kind of like playing the organ like a piano that has a broken damper pedal. It drives me insane.] Anyway, there are some options in this section. You could separate the octaves and make them a bit more declamatory. You could jump from octave to octave in a panic trying to lunge for legato (please don’t!). You could leave out some notes, particularly to keep the upper melody legato. I still experiment every time I get to this section. It just depends on what you want to say with the music. How it sounds is most important. Making alterations toward legato would sound completely different from a declamatory broken style. Take your pick. Franck wouldn’t be allowed to complain about your choice, since he marked octaves and full chords legato in the first place!

Finally, I make the ritard in 190 last until the very end. Every note is a wee bit slower than the one before. Such a slowdown is very long, very gradual, and very subtle and requires lots of practicing and lots of listening. Keep the beat or any background pulse you have going. The danger is in overblowing it. We still have to get to the end, you know, so don’t park somewhere when you’re not arrived yet. Think of this like trying to stop an old steam locomotive. You can pull on the brakes, but it won’t stop for a while! You have to pull harder, harder, and it finally slows down, little by little, until completely stopped.