Solo organ work from new member - hope you enjoy

I have enjoyed reading the forums and articles at this site and appreciate the well informed criticism and camaraderie. For these reasonsm I joined recently. I thought I would share with you my first official premiere of one omy compositions. It is a solo organ piece based on an original choral tune of my own with a recitative like middle section and a recapitulation and coda. The title Volcano comes from my attempt in the piece to depict a vengeful, mercurial God who demands allegiance.

I do not have the score on hand. If there is enough interest I'll post it. Here is the address to the recording of the piece by a very fine organist over at his site.

Listen

Forgot to add - to listen to the piece click the link Christopher Sahar - Volcano on this page of Joe's site. Joe was a fantastic performer to collaborate with and did a great job performing and registering my work this past April.

Regards

wow, this is great!! you did a fantastic job at depicting a volcano, in this..teh soxteenths were magnificant little bubbles leading to a fantastic dramatic drive all the way through. its good to see some organ music, especially live, and ESPECIALLY not baroque lol ( i was fully expecting it ). i would be interested in seeing the score though, you will get a lot more comments because people here like to follow along.

but anyway, awesome job man, very dramatic and it kept me interested teh whole way through. Cheers!

Vince

Thanks very much that guy. Interestingly, the form I used was very popular during the Baroque period -- chorale variations. The organist, Joe, was extrmeley instrumental in the piece's success as I indicated very little registration for it --- organs vary so much and I wanted there to be flexibility. But to play the piece you need at least 2 manuals (preferably 3) and require foundation, reed and some mixture stops to portray the theatricality of the piece well. I will post a score but I have to sned it to the US copyright office for copyright protection.

Awesome piece! I loved the archaic power of it and every decision (rhythmically, harmonically, formally, etc.) seemed to perfectly play together to create a strong, cogent music. Every moment of it is fascinating and you manage very well to combine a great variety of sounds with a feeling of unity and constant suspense. I admire you for this and it reawakens my long-held desire to write my first organ piece sometime soon. And yes, the performer was excellent too. I guess I'll listen to this a couple more times. I'd really love to see a score too, as soon as you can upload it.

BTW all - pardon my typos. Posting while working on other projects simultaneously. Before looking at my piece get a score of the Bach A minor prelude (BWV 543?). It is an excellent model. Also, 17th and 18th century chorales and fantasies - Buxtehude, Scheidt are very idiomatic for the organ. For more modern scores, Dupre's chorales, Langlais, Albright all offer good models.

Hm. This sounds very, very, French. Reminds me of Luis Vierne actually, specially his fantasy pieces.

I suppose it's the organ sound, this uses a bunch of characteristic French stops at the start. Quasi French-baroque really. Not surprising, it's a Casavant (Quebec-based organ factory) organ! Though they do all sorts of registrations too, the sound is still pretty French.

Anyhoo, as far as the composition itself, it does really remind me of Vierne's work, and to some degree Franck too. I can't say much more since I don't have a score. I assume you registered some of it, and wrote the swell pedal marks too that he uses.

If you were afraid of being too specific with the registration, you can pretty much specify what registers can be used when certain aren't there, and what types of organ can play it and how. Though, I know a lot of organists are used to adapting pieces themselves, it always helps if they know what the composer intended and even better if the composer planned ahead.

Either way, I didn't like this much probably because of the ending, it seems as if the piece is incomplete, or it's a fragment. You take some time developing textures and harmonies but because of that there's a sense of development you just cut off at the end. Motives play a big part in this, so it's a little weird having it all end so abruptly. It could also be the interpretation, I don't know since there's no score.

Plus, I don't see any parallels between BWV 543, or was that something else?

SSC - Thanks for your comments. Actually I provided very little registration. I worked closely with the organist on the piece and he registered it. Very good comments about the style. Interesting comment about it feeling incomplete, I had felt that way at first but upon repeated hearings and review of the work, I felt it stands alone pretty well.

It could one day be a movement of a larger work.

The reference to the Bach a minor was not related to my piece. I used the Gillou as a model.

Are you an organist?

I think that maybe as part of something larger this would be pretty OK, now that you mention it. And yea, I play organ too when I have the chance every now and then, and I used to work on restoring/tuning/maintenance so I kind of know the instruments.

I recommend seeing if you can make a larger cycle of pieces, where this maybe could fit. Not necessary as a movement, but maybe a... hmm, "fragment" or fantasy, or something. Ala Vierne or Messiaen.

So, yea~

Good ideas. How long have you been composing? I will get the score up but you will be surprised to see little or now registration indications. I have studied organ about 4 years but since I stop playing at a church every Sunday, I get to practice on a church when I can.

I also think some may hear it as a "fragment" because it ends on a diminished chord. I will post the score before the end of this week.

Hmm, pretty much since I started with music in 2000. Anyways, I'm gonna wait for the score before I say anything else about the piece.