Sunday Song: Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals

Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals (Festliche Musik alla Händel) by Sigfrid Karg-Elert performed on the 62 rank A. E. Schlueter pipe organ of Briarlake Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia by staff organist, Jason Payne.

Oops! There were three verses?

Today in our worship service, the congregation was singing along, ready to begin the final verse of the hymn, but the organist was done, and not looking at the music director.  After what seemed like a long time, but was only a few seconds, the music director realized that the organist wasn't planning on another verse, so she sat down.

Has this ever happened to you?  I know as a beginning organist, when I was so worried about playing the right notes that I couldn't follow the verses very well (especially on hymns with a chorus, or with a music director who followed the organ's entrances), I was terrified that I would stop playing the hymn a verse early, or begin playing an extra verse that wasn't there.  Fortunately, changing registration after every verse, and writing those changes in at the end of the hymn can help a beginning organist feel more secure that this won't happen to them.  Also, it's important to watch the music director until you are sure the hymn is over!

While this experience has never happened to me, thank goodness, there have been times in my playing when I was watching the music director very nervously, wondering if the chorus I was playing was the final verse, or if I needed to play one more.

Today's experience made me curious: Has this ever happened to you?  What's the most embarrassing playing experience you've had?

Sunday Song: Olympic Fanfare and Theme

Organist Sean Jackson of http://www.seanjacksonmusic.com plays a slightly abridged version of John Williams' Olympic Fanfare and Theme in celebration of the 30th Olympic Summer Games, London 2012. The audio includes some percussion from the score which Dr. Jackson added using Logic Pro and EWQL Symphonic Orchestral samples.

Enjoy!

BYU Organ Workshop

Every year about this time, Brigham Young University puts on an Organ Workshop that is absolutely amazing!  This year's workshop begins this afternoon from 3:00-7:00 p.m. with a preworkshop seminar: “A Survey of Latter-day Saint Hymnody: 1835 to the Present” with Douglas Bush.

If you haven't preregistered, it's not too late! You can register tomorrow morning from 8:00-9:00 a.m. in the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU for only $290 for four full days of organ instruction.

I attended the workshop the past two years, and I can tell you that it's worth every penny! This year the participants will also have the opportunity to play a Temple Square organ on Wednesday evening.

If you can't make it this year, start saving so that you can attend next summer. It will expand your view as to what the organ can do, and it could quite possibly change your life for the better.

If you happen to be in or around Provo, UT this week, there are a few activities that are open to all:

• Monday, July 30: Pre-Workshop Seminar -A Survey of Latter-day Saint Hymnody: 1835 to the Present, Dr. Douglas Bush, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., Madsen Recital Hall, BYU
• Tuesday, July 31: Organ Recital - Dr. Don Cook, 7:30 p.m., new BYU Multi-Stake Building, 900 E 300 N, Provo
• Thursday, August 2: Hymn Sing: Celebrating 175 Years of Latter-day Saint Hymnody, Dr. Douglas Bush, 7:30 p.m., De Jong Concert Hall, BYU

Unfortunately, for multiple reasons I am unable to attend the workshop this year. I'm still hoping to attend the Hymn Sing on Thursday evening, and highly recommend it. My first hymn sing with a trained organist was one of the most spiritually exhilarating experiences of my life!  I had no idea how effectively a trained organist could capture and share the spirit of the hymns.

Sunday Song: Octaves by Demessieux

For today's Sunday Song, Paul Jacobs plays Octaves by Jeanne Demessieux. This video was taken at his November 16, 2011 performance at Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City.

Sunday Song: Lead Kindly Light

Today's Sunday Song is Robert Hebble's Lead, Kindly Light.

Summertime Crazies

It has been far too long since I've posted on this blog!

It seems like every summer I enter a time warp when my kids stay home from school for summer vacation.  We have been incredibly busy with life.

As I've shared before, this blog has a great archive of resources for perusal.  Hopefully you will find what you need there.

I have some exciting news for my readers.  Many of the organ pictures on this website are of an Allen 282-C:

This is an organ I purchased about six years ago, and it was just wonderful for my needs.  However, it is about as old as I am, if not older, and the sound quality isn't nearly as good as what is currently available.  I'm so happy to announce that I recently purchased a used Ahlborn SL-300.  It's smaller and fits in my home better.  Plus, it's a 3-manual organ with internal speakers, and it's not even as old as my marriage, so the sound is so much better.

Here is the only picture I have of them together.  The Ahlborn was being delivered, and the Allen was purchased very quickly, so it left almost as soon as the new one was here:

Here's the Ahlborn right after delivery:

In other news, a lot has been going on in my life. Just on the organ front, I'll be serving as the secretary in my chapter of the American Guild of Organists for the next two years.  I was introduced to Wayne Leopold's Learning the Organ and Learning the Basics method books, and am going to start teaching the organ to children.  My oldest four got their first lessons today.  Also, I began playing the organ in my local LDS Temple, and will be playing there two or three times a month.

I'm hoping to start posting regularly again soon, fingers crossed!

Thanks for visiting!

Edited 7/22 to add:  I was also released as Stake Music Chairman today after 4 1/2 years of service.  I couldn't post that until it was official.