New Organ, No Pipes

But what a difference!

On October 15, the folks in attendance at First Presbyterian Church on Dustin experienced a real treat when Julia Thom, Organist, pulled out all the stops for the Prelude at the morning service. The rafters shook and the congregation was emotional when the opening chords of J. S. Bach’s Little Prelude in G filled the sanctuary with sounds of trumpets, reeds, principals and mixtures.
Now the whole community is invited to hear this amazing instrument at a Celebration Concert on Friday evening, November 17 at 7 pm with guest organist Maxine Thévenot. Dr. Thévenot is Canon Precentor, Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, NM. Founding and Artistic director of New Mexico’s professional vocal ensemble- Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, Dr. Thévenot is adjunct faculty at the University of New Mexico as director of Las Cantantes - women’s choir. A member of the duo, Air & Hammers, she concertizes with English baritone, Edmund Connolly. She is a published choral composer with Paraclete Press. A native of Canada, Dr. Thévenot received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Saskatchewan, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Manhattan School of Music.

Dr. Thévenot encourages community interaction and requested collaboration with our own Virginia Nichols-Hircock and her choirs to everyones delight, so that all of Farmington can enjoy a variety of music surrounded by the sounds of organ. The First Presbyterian Church’s Chapel Chimes and Chancel Choir will be joined by Piedra Vista Choirs and Caliente Community Chorus accompanied by Dr. Thévenot on organ in a roof raising experience of the age old hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy”.
Dr. Thévenot also has planned plenty of J. S. Bach favorites, several 20th century pieces, and an especially beautiful French piece called Pièce Heroique by César Franck. The audience will get a chance to stretch their legs and vocals cords with an “all sing” of another favorite hymn and the concert will close with “A Gaelic Blessing” by John Rutter for organ and choirs.

The new organ is a product of the Rodgers Organ Company of Oregon. First Presbyterian Church has retired a 40+ year old electronic organ which was failing with a built-from-scratch new Rodgers Infinity 361 digital organ with rich, multi-dimensional sound quality. It features 3 keyboard manuals with lighted drawknobs, and Rodgers’ unique high-resolution sampling process which employs up to 8 microphones to record the authentic sound from legendary pipe organs across the country as well as around the world. Among it’s many features is the Organ Type piston which instantly activates American Eclectic, English Cathedral, French Romantic or German Baroque stops.
The purchase of this instrument was made possible by the dream of former organist Sharon Brink who played for First Presbyterian from 1998-2014. She deferred her salary for that position into a new organ fund for many years. In 2014 she retired to Las Vegas, Nevada, and hopes to make a special appearance in Farmington at a later date to experience her dream.

If you have to miss this free concert on Friday, the people of First Presbyterian will always welcome visitors on Sunday mornings at 10:30 am where the sounds of RIO (their nickname for Rodgers Infinity Organ) are experienced weekly. 

Concert in the country

I heard about some concerts at Fana Church.  All during July, and it wasn't until the very last one that I planned my transportation out there.  It involved a ride on the light-rail and a bus, and it didn't disappoint!

Inside was spectacular! I was expecting a choral concert, but it was a tenor soloist and organist/pianist.  If I could locate the program, I'd publish it here, but, alas, I put it "away" somewhere, only to be found again when I die and my daughter cleans out the house... How many things she'll dispose of. It's all good!

Memorable pieces are "Panis Angelicus" and a folk hymn from the Hebrides, which we all tried to sing from the hymnal. I emphasize "tried".  The first verse goes well for most of us, but when the text becomes separated from the notes, we all had a bit of a challenge, including the accompanist/leader.  It was fun.

And after the concert, I introduced myself and was allowed to go up to the balcony and give it a little spin.  The settings were forte and I couldn't locate a softer set, so I blared a bit, and took pics.

Fana Church is pretty famous.  The roof is partially wooden like stave churches and stone like medieval churches.  Here's the link to Wikipedia, complete with a cool "legend of the Silver Cross."

Afterwards I spent an hour fooling around in the graveyard looking for a geocache.  Never located it. Then it took an extra hour to get home because the bus route was especially confusing.  All the buses going by were out of service, and I knew they were all going to exactly where I wanted to go.  After waiting 40 minutes, I was texting my daughter, hoping she could find a way for me to get away from this place... eventually two school boys showed up and asked me when the bus was coming.  I explained that it might be another 1/2 hour, and they started holding out their hands to the passing buses and one stopped!  It was raining by then, and indeed, the bus took us to the light-rail station, as I thought.  I was grouchy, to say the least, and later found that if I had waited at the place I got off (in the opposite direction) I would have gotten there faster.  Curious.
As in many adventures, I remember the concert and church more than the long wait in the rain. Yay for selective memory!

Those Ivories. Non-knitting Post

Warning:  This post has no pretty pictures of yarn, and is totally self-involved b.s. reflections.

Though I rarely mention it, ivories (piano keys) and ebonies (organ keys) are as intertwined in my life as eating, sleeping, knitting, relationships, and bodily functions.
Does one retire from such activity?   I suppose one does if something physical happens to prevent the movement of fingers. But now I'm not sure.  In the past few years, I've noticed my little fingers, and they seem to be my main topic when I address playing issues.  I feel like they don't want to take part anymore.  But, I drag them along, and recruit their services.  Just like any repetitive activity, I don't think too much about the mechanics of it, just the surprise factor when something doesn't turn out as expected.
What have I learned in 60 years?  From sitting on a bench in front of 88 keys, I've learned to relate a diagram (printed music) to my movements on the keyboard.  And out comes sounds that are pleasant. Mostly!  That's where the little fingers literally fall short occasionally, and the sounds are not there or (cringe) unpleasant.   I've learned to expect more from my fingers, but nothing is going to bring them back to their former selves.  They are crooked, and one is too flexible, and the other isn't flexible. Even so, the change has been gradual, and my mind and hands have adapted.
For those of you in a similar situation, my only recommendation is focus... Dang, the "f" word again. Focus with help...in the form of the ultimate non-technical tool:  A pencil. Really!  I've found my best weapon against embarrassing goofs is a pencil.  If something goes wrong, and I can locate it, a little/big/dark circle around the problem is my best defense.  There is so much on each page, and my eye needs just that mark to bring focus to something that I need to focus on.
Sounds simple doesn't it?  It is, along with thousands of hours...
So here comes the computation...  Sixty years times 52 weeks = 3120 weeks. Say I have played an average of 2 hours a week over my lifetime... I recall weeks of twenty hours as an accompanist, and weeks of none, so I'm being conservative... And giving myself 6,240 lifetime hours.
There have been services this weekend, shared by ivories and ebonies, and the music goes on. Apprehension always precedes these events...I am my own worst enemy until I start playing!  If my fingers are actively participating, as happens in the days/hours before performance, I feel very insecure.
I wonder what I would be reflecting on if my mommy hadn't decided to take me to piano lessons in September 1954?

And Music Plays On

Church music, underestimated? I practice, maybe not hours and hours, but I don't go in cold!
How little do some people know about church music? A year ago, I was asked what I do (in general) and when I spoke of being a church organist, the other person was NOT impressed. I didn't mean to impress him however he said something hinting that it was the same music over and over again. I realized that meant liturgy was repeated. I pointed out that I play three or four tunes from 3 books of 1,600+ hymns/songs, plus incidental music of my own choosing, but rarely repeated more than twice a year.
What happens when the fingers fail you?  A few weeks ago I was practicing for something, maybe a choral anthem, and I kept missing the same note.  OK, so there were several hundred other notes that I was playing, but it became evident that I wasn't getting this one thing.  I had focused on it, repeated it slowly, and still when I went through that passage, I was missing the same *** key!  It was annoying, and then I realized that my --- (I swear it) my fingers have changed.  When did it happen?  Mostly, it's my little fingers.  Over the past few years, my little fingers have been giving out.  My previous posts have attested to their plights, but just at this one moment it meant that my left little finger wasn't able to bend to get to that above mentioned *** key.  Luckily, just identifying that funny little unbendable finger was enough.  I didn't miss it again.  Curious.
I thought I was losing it! But since then I've accompanied regularly and irregularly, meaning the odd summer concert.  It was held as part of the city's Summer Terrace Concerts at the Museum.  Luckily, we cranky classical musicians insisted on having it inside, and without the distractions of nature (insects, wind, weather, dust, and nothing to reverberate) it went very well.  The audience was a bit miffed at first, with folding chairs and picnic lunches in tow, but they were very appreciative!  (Even before it was over... You never know if the sustained applause at the end is relief that the audience can stand up and move around!)
Here's a picture from one of the museum displays.  If you are ever in Farmington New Mexico...stop by!

Nine fingers

I feel a little guilty that my blog is "Yarn" heavy, and "Ivories" doesn't get equal time, but that's life around here.  As I think about it, I've had ivories in my life since 1954, and yarn... hard to pinpoint, but it came a little later (still, it was in the late '50's).
Now I have news about "Ivories" since 5 weeks ago I started using nine fingers instead of ten.  It's been a long standing habit I've created for myself, of using and depending on ten fingers but I've amazed myself at making nine work.

Yesterday I played 4 hymns (and 15 verses), a prelude (Battle Hymn Tribute, pictured above), an offertory (Elegy), and a short postlude (short variations on hymn tunes).  This was all on organ where notes need to be connected one to the other by slipping from one note to the next, holding them down until the next is played, and since my left pinky is out of commission, the pedals cover nicely the lower notes.  It works!!  I particularly liked the Battle Hymn Tribute by Behnke because it starts and ends with Amazing Grace.  People like it because they have to like one of the two tunes, and if they like quiet music or loud, it has both.
Yesterday was also my debut playing piano (haven't played since early May and never with nine fingers).  I originally said-- NO WAY!  Then I tried the piece for women's ensemble, and it wasn't half bad.  A minimum of octaves (pictured below) and the last verse was "a capella", my favorite!!  I cheated skirted around most octaves to begin with, but by the third service (and third performance) I got braver and found I was reaching more notes.


I've come to grips with how old my hands look... so I'm leaving this untouched photo in.  Not all hand shots are this flattering... :)
One amusing glitch yesterday:  As I was turning a page with my left hand (and covering music with my other appendages) I made a loud cracking noise as my plastic splint hit the music desk.  It startled me, but I guess I was playing loudly and no one else noticed!

Tickling the Ivories

Special music last Sunday:
Early service, I accompanied a euphonium player.  His sound is wonderful, and he chooses music that people love.  He played I love you, Lord in an arrangement that, as he put it, "You'll be able to play it blind folded, and I'll keep one eye open."  We ran it just before the service, and added a repeat for length.
At the later service, the Chancel Choir sang a three verse setting of Hyfrdol. The first and third verses were for unison choir, and the second verse was in 4-part harmony.  The third verse accompaniment was... surprising.  Lots of harmonies that were edgy (i.e. kept me on my toes, er, finger tips).  Both of these pieces were for piano.
On organ, the hymns were standard, except for the closing which was Let There Be Peace on Earth which I don't remember playing before.  Didn't know it was in the hymnal...


This week I'm looking forward to having some maintenance done on the pipe organ.  The presets haven't been working since last... summer.  (Maybe it was late Spring.)  The tuner and technician is coming on Thursday, and the replacement magnets arrived last Saturday from the builder in Quebec. Fingers crossed that problems will be solved!

Monday Musical Musings 2

Where am I?  Somewhere in the Caribbean, and far from ivories/ebonies and the world of church music, and unlimited internet.
Therefore, here's a late report about last week's musical offerings:
My background information here.

This Sunday was preceded by a 24 hour retreat for the women's ensemble.  It really paid off.  All 6 of them were really on, and confident with their singing.  Lots of compliments.  And the Brass Ensemble played lots of wonderful pieces all arranged by the trombone player.  


The Music:
Hymns

#1  Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.  Three verses and refrains, accompanied by the brass.  A surprise V7 chord lead up a half step for the final verse.  I often do this because I can.  Instead of going into a completely new key, I take the music and imagine the two key signatures which would work.  Today's was Ab and A.  Holding the Ab in the melody, I step the bass line down (Ab Gb E) and the melody Ab becomes G# or the leading tone to the key of A.  The brass followed right along and came in on the final refrain.  They're GOOD!

#2  Now the Green Blade Riseth.  French Carol, and often heard at Christmas time. Nice and lively tune, even though it's minor.

#3  It is Well with My Soul.  I didn't have much to contribute to be creative with this one, except on the final refrain I held the long melody notes while the brass played the echoing chords by themselves.

Incidental Music

Pre-Service, Prelude, Offertory and Postlude were played by the brass.  They are 2 trumpets, trombone, euphonium and tuba, and they practice every week for at least an hour with a brass coach (my favorite hubs).  All of these pieces were new and arranged by Don Allen.  "The Blessed Son of God" by Vaughn Williams, "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" by great great uncle Jeremiah Ingalls, "Hodie" by Sweelinck and Fugue #13 by Shostokovich.  I particularly liked the Sweelinck who was a Dutch composer and organist at the turn of the 17th century. There were lots of meter changes which were done beautifully.  (Thanks, guys!)

The vocal music was provided by Women of Worship Ensemble.  They were, indeed, WOW'sers and sounded great.  They sang "Be Thou My Vision" in a Jay Althouse arrangement which was lovely and dynamic.  A nice variety of unison and harmony with great crashing chords in the accompaniment from high octaves to low.  It was a bit of a challenge for me.  One of those pieces that I can sight-read and then realize the end bit will take a bit of memorization.  The "girls" didn't like to hold their notes for 12 beats while I took my time, so an accelerando was added.  They also sang "Joy Comes with the Dawn" as a "response".  
Thanks, Team!

Monday Musical Musings 1

New Year's Resolution!  A report on Mondays of musical happenings... to satisfy  the "Ivories".
Let it be known that I am a Methodist church organist, and therefore will have something to muse about if I play each week.
Yesterday I touched no Ivories... only Ebonies and some other... brown wood.  Maybe the trim on the "black" keys is ivory.  (Some Sundays I play piano, too.)

The music:
Hymns (Oldies but goodies)

#1 Great is Thy Faithfulness.  Three verses and refrains with varying stops (sounds). Followed by a reading and one last Refrain repeated. (We don't always do the extra refrain.  It has tripped me up in the past: Once I closed the hymnal at the end of the regular singing only to hastily search for it again half way through the reading! Read: Panic!!) My usual variation of the printed music is to use passing tones in the bass/pedals. 

#2 And Can It Be that I Should Gain.  Again, three verses.  The last 8 measures are written with 4 part harmony that isn't what I consider in organ style.  I feel like the men singing are exposed if I play as written with only treble melody with no accompaniment.  Therefore, I add extra octaves in the lower range and chords to fill in the sound.

#3  I Need Thee Every Hour  Three verses.  Straight out of the hymnal.  Minor variations of stops for the verses and refrain.

NOTE:  I do not choose hymns.  Only incidental music and who plays what. I have a colleague who plays piano or organ opposite me.
Incidental Music:

Prelude:  At the early service I played a Telemann Choral Prelude. One Manual only.  It consisted of two voices which imitate the chorale tune and a third voice above the others using the chorale tune melody in longer notes.

Prelude: At the later service I accompanied my husband (piccolo trumpet) playing "Adagio" by Marcello.  The piece is originally for oboe and orchestra.  A very beautiful ornamented melody, full of twists and turns, played at mm=36.  (That's very slow, folks.)  He played beautifully; his sound is wonderful, and accompanying him is effortless.  Maybe it's because we have played together for 43 years...

Postlude:  Two variations of How Firm a Foundation, first in Eb minor, and second in D major arranged by Lau.

A vocal solo was sung by a little slip of a girl in 5th grade, who sang up a storm (Amazing Grace/My chains are gone) to a recorded accompaniment.  She had people wiping tears from their eyes and her tuning is impressive with only a few months of vocal instruction.
For past blog posts on this subject, use the search feature to the right by typing in "pipe organs" or "performance".

Counting up!

Felted

And some music to accompany it!

Here's a great explanation of Christmas Carols. I learn so much from NPR:

Carols Meet Christmas.   Let's all sing now:  "The Fruit Cake That Ate New Jersey, never shows no mercy!"

Ivories, That too!

Keeping in shape.
My hub is very envious.  He works his tail off keeping his lip(s) from becoming mush. I go away and don't see a keyboard for 5 weeks.  I rehearse/practice/play two days later.  There's something about using your fingers, (maybe it's the computer keyboard - however, iPods don't help) and everyday knitting that makes it not that difficult.
So much for philosophizing on dexterity, but what about playing the pedals on the organ?  That's memory too.  And I really feel that that talent is subjective to... so many things.  One minute it's working, and the next I tell my heel from my toe.  When pedaling goes awry for someone else, I'm the last to smirk.  I don't even roll my eyes... It's a phenomenon that scares the B-G-B's out of me every time I play.
Unlike knitting, which I can throw in the corner, or stomp on, rip it out, and/or ignore, pedal notes played in a highly resonant chamber are out there never to be retrieved.
Such is life.  And we organists become calloused by it. Oddly enough, the public will withstand a great deal before dealing with it... When it goes well, "how sweet it is!"

Karmøy, Norway, M and his trumpet (August 2009)

Selecting Music

The Ivories were complimented yesterday!  Sometimes things just work!!


I heard from many that the music was wonderful, asking for the name of tunes, and it really was something that people wanted to hear.  It makes me feel good. I always feel that part of my job is to make an experience that will bring people back a second time.  There has to be something that will hook a person into returning for another hour, and maybe even bringing someone else with them.


ME is my flutist that pulls off the best sounds... everyone loves flute music.  Sax, clarinet, trumpet, etc. someone can be offended, but flute?  Never.  It wasn't until Friday that I decided that since I hadn't heard from ME, but she was expected to play on Sunday, I better search through my library and find a few things to "suggest".  Rather than finding things that will go with sermons, I find things that will create a mood of uplifting, contemplation, prayer, melodies known and unknown.  (Often I make up titles to fit the mood I want to create. Who's to know? And the title starts the process of an image before the music begins and gives listening guidance.)




I chose music that was rather repetitious but soothing.  Rolf Lovland and his music called Smooth Stones: Secret Garden is written for violin and piano.  Last Fall, I had a violinist try it out and it was amazing--people were very excited about the feel.  It's similar to Celine and Andrea.  (Without all the shouting...)






Neo-classical is the term:  ME does it well, and there's nothing like live music to fit the moment. Not only inspirationally but in length. By this, I mean, knowing when to stop is very important, and when to have enough to fill the moment, too.  Somehow, it came out just right with our phrasing.  There's a certain amount of luck and experience that goes into that happening.

Performance and Focus

I promised myself I would try to put some meaning and description to the part of my life that has been "on stage".  As a church organist, I know that people feel that the religious realm plays an important part of performance, however, I don't think so.  If your body and mind are not prepared for making sounds that people won't mind listening to, no higher order is going to bail you out.  


Here's a story from my past:  About 20 years ago, I was an accompanist for the church choir in the church where I grew up. Going back home as a "musician" isn't always easy. Everyone saw you as a child, and all those cute little hiccups that happen during church can be overlooked because "she's so cute, only 5 years old..." Now you have to be cool and proficient. The unthinkable happened: A veteran choir member died, a popular school administrator/teacher, someone who crossed into numerous areas of cultures and someone who had touched thousands of lives. The memorial service was a joyful one, attendance was double the firecode for the building, and there was more emotion than I was prepared for. We, in the chancel, were weeping and hardly able to breathe listening to people tell stories of his life and (BAM) the choir stood up, I sat at the piano, and we performed. I had no idea of the focus that is involved in performance and the focus I was capable of until that evening. No tears, no emotion, just music and focus. Some may say "hard-hearted", but you can't make yourself understood if you are in an emotional state, and somehow I was able to transport myself to the place where music happens.  Now I do it all the time.


Every Sunday I show up at 8 AM and if I've done my work in the week before, I'll be all smiles at noon.  The choir will file out and cheerfully greet me with a nod or kind word and all is right in the world. (I'll be hammering away at some cute little Bach piece...Eiyyy! Here comes the pedal melody! Don't take your eyes off the music now... Sorry, folks, I can't reply to that last remark: "How did we sound this morning?")  It takes preparation:  I have to be familiar with the order of the program,(You've got to be kidding! The prayer is ALWAYS followed by the offertory!) and I have to have particularly funny passages under my fingertips;  in some cases I've memorized certain chords or passages so I don't rely on the printed page. (Ab minor! Is this a joke?) I have to know where my printed pages are, too!  They don't automatically show up on the piano or organ desk...(How embarrassing is that? I KNOW I put my music on the piano just 20 minutes ago, yet...Nevermind, I'll grab someone's music and "they" can share. Awk! They have some stupid "choral edition" without my part in it. Doomed: "You, entire church congregation of 150 people plus 30 choir members, and 1/2 dozen clergy, TALK amongst yourselves while I tiptoe out and race down the hallway, up the stairs and back again so we can continue." I'll never know what they "talked about", will I?) Sometimes I think it should appear!  That will be the ultimate tech world where I sit down, push a button or two, and my music appears...  I'm not a fan of the tech world; so far, too many disappointments with glitches which can REALLY be stressful. (How many times has the screen gone blank of words, or an electronic squawk has sent people clapping their hands over their ears, dropping all else?) And finally, I have to be ready for anything! (And how close have I come to touching those keys that will make everyone stand up only to hear: "At this time we ask Jim and Donna to come forward with baby Tara for baptism.") There are many people involved in the service, and I believe it's my job to make everyone look good, and make a pleasant experience, if not an inspiration.

My husband is a great trumpet player, performer, musician and teacher. He's amazing! And he knows what he has to do to make it happen. Often he excuses himself for weeks before a known "triple-tongue" measure is going to occur, and I know exactly what to do. Give him space to do his thing. Even though people say he has a big ego, and he knows he's good, they don't know the preparation, the lead-up, the stress and pressure of that moment, and the need to hear the remarks afterwards. The biggest and most meaningful comments come from fellow musicians.  We both take pride in it, and enjoy it.