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

Volcano for Organ - Final.pdf

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 :P ). 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.

Wow! Amazing piece! Keeps me interested from the very first to the very last note!

Thanks for the compliment. The performer was great and he did a fantastic job with his registrations. I hope all of you have had or will have the opportunity to work with such an excellent musician interested in new music.

First of all, thank you for the wonderful feedback on my wind quintet. I will reply on that thread soon, but I have a massive amount of work to do in a very short time (so I really shouldn't be here right now at all...).

Chris, this piece has some amazing writing. I definitely think the first four bars are the best and I would guess that they're the ones you put the most work into. The voice leading is excellent and the verticalities genuinely satisfying.

I recognize the idea of chorale variations here, but I'm having trouble finding bases for the variations in the theme, though I can't imagine they're not there because the piece sounds too unified to have been composed otherwise.

I was going to ask if you admire Hindemith, but on reflection I'm not so sure it's a good hunch.

I appreciate the title because of your description (I think I understand what you're getting at), but really...does it fit? I can definitely believe the idea inspired parts of the piece, but I think it clutters the music.

And I am inclined to agree with some of the others that the piece does not sound self-contained. I think you may have become acclimated to its abrupt ending, but this is just my opinion. Some parts of this scream "organ suite" to me and I think it could function really well as a complete first movement, especially if you were to transform the chorale theme in subsequent movements.

That's all I have time for at the moment, unfortunately. This is really great stuff.

Alex

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Actually I have gotten more people satisfied with the ending than not but as I have written elsewhere, I do agree it COULD be part of a much larger work -- I liked SSC suggestion that this may be one of a series of movements or Fantasies.

Interesting you said the first four bars I worked hardest on. In a way yes as it took a long time to satisfy my ear. But I worked hard to get the triplet figures to sound over fragments of the chorale theme in the bass which was very difficult due to the density. The easiest part was the middle section with the quintuplets .

As for it being a true chorale variation, you are correct, it isn't. It uses soem of its principles --- eg taking the first portion of the theme and placing it in the bass (played by pedals) over a triplet figure (which is derived from the first few notes of the theme). As this triplet figure serves as a transition to the recitative like sections and then to a recap and codetta, the piece is really ternary.

Eventually I may return to it and write a sequel with some thematic relation to it. But I really need some distance from the work as I spent a few months on it while doing other composition assignments and fulfilling other personal/professional obligations. Plus I have heard it performed twice (the organist loves the piece!) so my ears need a little refreshing before going back.

As for a Hindemith fan not really but more because I haven't explored a lot of his works. What I have heard I have enjoyed but not enthralled to go back to it often. Probably should as the guy's musicianship was astounding. Ever do the exercies from his "Elementary Training for Musicians" - you wonder elementary for whom!

Bolanos - you should ... you'd probably do better than I!

I quite enjoyed this :)

but then again, I am a sucker for good organ music.

AND it's titled volcano.

Just gave this another listen, I forgot how much I enjoyed this piece! I echo what thatguy said as well ;)

Vince

LOL!!!!

good work, CO, i like transitions through thick to thin and sort of meditative upgoing/upbuilding which nicely starts to flow and then come the rhythmic beats just to turn on the last volcano lava. i enjoyed it pretty much. good moving from one musical idea to another. lively. since i love modern organ music, well ( the ones i heard) it was very tasty to my ears. and i like the ending, a bit unsuspected, but still a point of view on lava - it could gone abit longer the last chords. but, yes, i enjoyed it.

Quite lovely, I appreciate the marriage of modern harmonic material with a more Baroque form... they suit each other nicely. The harmony in particular connects with me. A fine piece!

Thanks pliorus and cooper! This is from last year so I am overdue for a new organ piece.

Shameless self-promotion. newbies welcome to comment.

Thank you for posting, this is indeed a remarkable work. I like the opening, the way it develops, the free-style mid-section and the stormy return of the opening material at the end. My only doubt is about the very last measures - maybe you could have expanded that section to have a more majestic finale, the piece deserves it! The last chord does not sound conclusive to my ears... Other than this little thing, I really enjoyed it!

Thanks for your kind comments on both of my pieces. Yes some people find the ending too inconclusive. I like as it is. I have considered writing a companion piece to it.