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I'll try to see if I can come up with something, but no promises it'll be done in time...

At the request of one of my subscribers, I decided to try my hand at writing a passacaglia emulating the style of French Baroque composer François Couperin. While both my research and efforts may have proven relatively insufficient in convincingly imitating most of the intricacies found within his keyboard style to the fullest extent, I am nontheless pleased with the results of this little experiment. This work is supposed to be understood as a two-part ouverture as a whole: the first movement is comprised by a prelude riddled with double-dotted rhythmic figures very much intentionally reminiscent of other French Baroque ouvertures, specially those of Jean Baptiste Lully. The passacaille itself follows a strict repetition of the same harmonic baseline throughout the first two variations, which is then slightly altered in a kind of quodlibet by non-strict canonic imitation reaching up to 4 voices, followed by a coda almost identical to the last phrase of the prelude. Thankfully I finally found a way to switch between soundbanks of my harpsichord soundfont automatically amidst playback, which in turn allowed me to include various registers of the instrument across diverse sections of the piece, namely three: Grand Jeu (literally translatable from French as "Great Game": I 4' 8' II 8'), Petit Jeu ("Little Game": I 4' II 8') and Luth (the lute register, also commonly known as a compound buff stop: I 4' Lute II 8'). Eventually, this composition will most likely become susceptible to getting transcribed into a 4-hands arrangement in the future, mostly due to the large intervals in some measures that can only be covered that way. For now, this version may stay as it currently is, since any difference between this iteration and said arrangement would otheriwse be completely imperceptible using digital playback. Scrolling video link: French Ouverture - Prelude and Passacaille in F minor.mp3 French Ouverture - Prelude and Passacaille in F minor.pdf

Hello Mason! I can well imagine how much you enjoyed having the chance to play such a magnificent instrument that literally fills the entire hall or church. And—even though you’re a professional pianist—I don’t think playing the organ is your daily routine, so you took the opportunity to improvise, record a video, and share it with us—thank you so much for that. A few years ago, I also had the chance to try my hand at playing the organ—at Gethsemane Church in Berlin. And I recorded a video as well, but—given my piano skills, which are “barely good enough for playing at home”—I can’t post it; that would be too embarrassing for me and others … What I learned is that while the organ is indeed a “royal” instrument, it is also a “diva” that, despite the magnificent reverberation in a church, forgives no mistakes in articulation, and that it is very difficult for a piano “player” to play legato consistently without the support of a sustain pedal. What I particularly appreciated was that you’ve chosen the key of B-flat minor for your improvisation. For me, this key is one that expresses solemnity, and perhaps also a kind of sorrow or suffering. This impression is particularly influenced by the preludes and fugues in B-flat minor from both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier (where the famous fugue from the second book was one piece I tried to play at that time, along with one of my own fugues...)

aight im in