Variations of "Rule, Britannia!" for Organ

Since I was actually able to get my hands on a real organ this summer, I finally finished this: a set of variations on Rule, Britannia! the british patriotic song. Comments are welcome especially on the registration issues. I've tried my best to indicate the sound I want but it needs refining. So all you organists out there, please take a look-see!

Mp3: Variations on Britannia.mp3

PDF attached.

EDIT: Oh yeah. Due to my crappy equiptment, the mp3 doesn't have all the registrations. So you'll have to imagine them.

I have to say before I start that variations III and IV were my favourite, and I dont really know why

Now I know nothing about organ writing, so this is more of a listeners view, and is pretty much subjective to my opinion.
Personally I felt that throughout some of the piece it lost that regal atmosphere that 'rule britania' contains. Likewise it felt at times a bit, for lack of a better word, forced, in some of the ideas for transisitons etc...

Keeping in mind that these were purely personal opinions...
Generally I think that you did very well with some of the variations and I enjoyed listening to it

Lex

Thanks! Anyone else?

First off for your first organ composition and the time you did it in Bravo.

Some interesting textures there and some good writing. I like your registration choices and Variation 3 is very good for its compositional technique and some of its idiomatic organ writing. Don't do anything to that one.

Registration - Only suggest you use some of the quieter ones you did in Var 4 more often. You can get some beautiful sounds with a 4 ft + a voix celeste.

However, some of your metronome markings may be a bit to fast for the pedals to speak. One thing you have to be careful of. An example is some of the legato 16ths in Variation 5 may need to be a tad bit slower -- depending on the organ. Also, around msr 149 - 152, I am not convinced you have to have the organist continually play those staccato broken octaves. A more organly approach would be to have the left hand play the broken octaves and the organ playing quarter notes -- possible a nice walking bass at times or that offers more varied and interesting harmonic support yet with slower note values (great example is the Prelude from Bach's St Ann). Variation 6, legato 16ths in the pedal at quarter = 120 is doable but again may be a bit tiring after the organist has been doing all those broken octaves, also its functionality is a bit limited, just paralleling the left hand whose chords may not come out as clearly as the midi playback suggests. Maybe something a little more interesting could be done with the left hand?

Variation VII is a bit too pianistic with the giant leaps in the right hand. For the piano you will get a nice ring but on the organ it will sound very clipped and the organist will struggle to make the beat not drift to the 2nd note of the triplet. It needs to be rewritten or it could just be a change in note values and articulation - but check with a very experienced organist.

Also, Var IX, the pedal part with the metronome mark given would be very difficult because you ask every note to be accented. Delete also the suggested 32, it WILL be too muddy - remember your adding notes two octaves BELOW to what is written. As for all the accents, that will exhaust the organist because the only way do this is to shorten or lengthen the note. So, the organist would probably disregard most of your accents and focus on the strong beats and points where the phrase changes. A 16 and 8 principle + a reed at a slower tempo, maybe 120, with well chosen would be much more doable. Again, I'd consult with a professional organists to see what is possible.

Other notes - VERY IMPORTANT - please make a clearer indicateion when these are to played on separate manual, - I like putting Manual I/Manual II/Manual III by the staff desired. Also, no need to tell the organist h should have a grand pause for the entrance of the subject in the left hand in Var in Variation IV, the organist will cahnge stops when Var II ends. Note, on many modern organs you can change a set of stops with your feet.

Structural issues - You have one or two transitions which are TOO obvious. The biggest culprit - measure 157 screams I am going to a new key!!! A little more subtlety please. Also, the sudden offbeat chord before Var 4 followed by a grand pause, is a bit jarring and seems like an obvious stop for my tastes.

Lastly, you show some excellent variation ideas but tend to rely a little too much on changing the accompaniment or burying the melody under busywork (eg excessive scale running or overdense texture) - one example is Variation VI, msrs 185 - 192.

You should keep writing them. Find an organist study more literature and learn! Organ is alot of fun to play an compose for.

I liked it very much!!

But aren't you going a bit nutty on the feet keyboard part?
I mean, there are parts there where the poor organist almost has to tapdance...

Apart from that, I really liked it!

Thanks a lot you guys. I'll take your comments to heart and my revision plans.

I enjoyed this, but felt it was stylistically disjointed. The brief introduction was fantastic, and I was disappointed that the French, Messiaenesque style didn't return later. Pausing between variations is also rather irritating - writing bridge passages might eliminate my first criticism. The fugue on 'Rule Britannia' was.... well.... it was great after the exposition, but the exposition itself needs either to be removed, or rewritten. After the fugue you had an effective linking passage; more of these please! The final variations were excellent - I think the moral here is that you should write in the styles you write in best! Forget mock-bach; your crashing chordal stuff is wonderful!

This could be great piece given some polishing. Are you familiar with Beethoven's set of piano variations on the same theme?