Sunday Song: All Creatures of Our God and King

"All Creatures of Our God and King" played by Alena Hall at the University of Utah Libby Gardner Concert Hall.

Breathing

There's a saying attributed to Berlioz and Stravinsky alike about the organ: "The monster never breathes!" Is this the case in your organ playing?

Let's consider Organist #1, who is afraid of silence. This individual takes great care during hymn accompanying to avoid any gaps in the music. Every moment of every hymn is filled with the sound of the organ, like so:

Organist #2, however, breaks without fail at the end of every line. When singing, about every two or four measures you'll hear a moment of silence.

Finally we have Organist #3, whom we should all strive to emulate. This organist reads through the hymn text, studies the message in each verse, and chooses where to breathe in order to best share the message of the text with the congregation. Every verse is different, and this organist reflects the text of each verse. In reading through "Silent Night," the organist notes the following phrasing:

Silent night!

Holy night!

All is calm,
all is bright round yon virgin mother and Child.

Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace;

Sleep in heavenly peace.

"Silent Night!" is followed by a breath, as it's a complete phrase.

"Holy Night!" again is followed by silence.

"All is calm," is followed by a break in the right hand only, as it is part of a sentence but is its own phrase set apart by a comma. "All is bright round yon virgin mother and Child," is one complete phrase and should not be interrupted or the meaning is lost.

"Holy Infant, so tender and mild," is slightly set apart from the rest of the sentence by a break in the right hand. "Sleep in heavenly peace," completes the sentence and is followed by silence.

"Sleep in heavenly peace," completes the first verse.

Listen to the difference:

For the second verse, Organist #3 chose breaks in different places:

Silent night!

Holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight!

Glories stream from heaven afar;
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Savior, is born!

Christ, the Savior, is born!

Finally, for the third verse Organist #3 chose these breaks:

Silent night!

Holy night!

Son of God,
Love's pure light radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth;

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

As organists, we are called upon to enhance the worship of our congregation. It is very important that we study the text of the hymns and strive through proper registration and "breathing" to share the spirit of these hymns with the congregation.

Instead of:

Hark, all ye nations! Hear heaven's voice

Thru ev'ry land that all may rejoice!

Angels of glory shout the refrain:

Truth is restored again!

Oh, how glorious from the throne above

Shines the gospel light of truth and love!

Bright as the sun, this heavenly ray

Lights ev'ry land today.

Try:

Hark, all ye nations!

Hear heaven's voice thru ev'ry land that all may rejoice!

Angels of glory shout the refrain:
Truth is restored again!

Oh, how glorious from the throne above shines the gospel light of truth and love! [no breaks]

Bright as the sun,
this heavenly ray lights ev'ry land today.

In Conclusion

My challenge to you is to study the hymn text and reflect this phrasing in your accompaniment. Your congregation as a whole may or may not consciously notice the change, but those individual members who strive to worship through hymn singing will appreciate your efforts. The hymns will also begin to mean even more to you, personally, as you strive to better share the message of the hymns with your congregation.

Lesson 3: Demystifying the Organ Stops, Part 2

Click here for Lesson 2: Demystifying the Organ Stops, Part 1

Now that we've covered the various lengths and sounding octaves of the pipes, including mutations and compound stops, it's time to cover the families of organ pipes.

Organ pipes are divided into two main categories: Flues and Reeds

Flue Pipes

The sound of a flue pipe is produced in a manner similar to a recorder. Without moving parts, air blows across a sharp lip.

Within the flue pipe category are three families: flutes, diapasons (or principals), and strings.

The tone of a flue pipe is affected by the size and shape of the pipes as well as the material out of which it is made. A pipe with a wide diameter will tend to produce a flute tone, a pipe with a medium diameter a diapason tone, and a pipe with a narrow diameter a string tone. The pitch of a flue pipe is determined by the length of the pipe from the mouth to the open end of the pipe.

Hybrid stops contain one rank of pipes which attempts to combine the tones of two other classifications of stops, such as the Gemshorn which has a sound combination of Flute + String.

To which family do mixtures belong? There are two types of mixtures: chorus mixtures and solo mixtures. Chorus mixtures are generally voiced as principal stops, while solo/swell mixtures are often voiced as flutes.

Chorus mixtures are used to add brilliance to larger chorus-type registrational combinations (which we discuss in the next lesson), such as principals 8’, 4’, and 2’.

Some common chorus mixtures include:

Mixtur(e) V
Fourniture IV
Plein jeu VI
Cymbal III
Scharf IV
Acuta III

Solo Mixtures are intended to be used in combination with at least an 8’ stop, unless one is included in the mixture itself, as with Cornet V. Their main function is to add color to solo combinations (where only one voice is played on one manual, and the accompaniment voices are played on another).

Some common solo mixtures include:

Sesquialtera II
Cornet II
Cornet III
Cornet V

Reed Pipes

The sound of a reed pipe is produced in a manner similar to a clarinet. Wind is directed towards a curved piece of brass (the reed) which has a flat piece that vibrates, or beats, to create sound. The longer the vibrating portion of the reed, the lower the pitch. The shorter the vibrating portion, the higher the pitch

Unlike the flue category, within the reed pipe category there is just one family--the reed family. However, reeds are further classified as either solo or chorus reeds, depending on their blending characteristics.

Assignment

Pull our your stop list--it's time to get to work! Using The Encyclopedia of Organ Stops and/or The New LDS Organist Packet, page 11, go through the stops on your organ and jot down which family they belong to. With the reeds, additionally classify them as solo or chorus reeds. If you are using an organ in an LDS chapel, its online manual may also provide some stop information for you.

On some organs, the reed stop names are red while the flue stops are written in black. Traditionally, all flue stops are listed from lowest-sounding to highest, followed by the reed stops in the same order.

In Conclusion

Instead of beginning these lessons with pedaling and fingering techniques, I chose to provide a broad foundation for you to draw from. Now that you have classified your organ's stops, in the next lesson we can continue on to Lesson 4: Hymn Registrations, which will teach you how to register a full organ and allow you to successfully "cheat" at the organ.

Sunday Song: Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

Robert Cundick's setting of "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," performed by Rob Stefanussen.

Review: Nine Hymn Studies by D. Kim Croft

Nine Hymn Studies by D. Kim Croft is often recommended for beginning organ students. Each simple arrangement has complete fingerings and pedaling already marked.

According to the publisher, Jackman Music:

The nine hymns included in this book have very easy pedaling. The pieces range from medium easy to easy to play. Fingerings and pedal markings are also included.

Hymns included are:
"A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"
"Abide With Me"
"How Gentle God's Commands"
"How Great the Wisdom and the Love"
"In Humility, Our Savior"
"Israel, Israel God Is Calling"
"Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee"
"Oh How Lovely Was the Morning"
"Sweet is the Work"

I have always loved these hymn arrangements. As a beginning organ student, they were simple enough for me to play well. As a more accomplished organist they are beautiful enough that I still include them in my prelude music.

"A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"

While I enjoy all of these arrangements, of the nine this arrangement is my least favorite. With a time signature of 6/8, the pedaling is very simple, alternating between an Ab and Eb throughout the piece. The right hand plays the melody and left hand provides a nice counter-melody. I would like to see something slightly different in the pedals, but it is a nice, simple piece.

"Abide With Me"

With long sustained pedal tones, this arrangement only changes the bass note three times. A very reverent piece, the counter-melody beautifully balances the melody and pedal and provides a wonderful prelude piece.

"How Gentle God's Commands"

With only four pedal changes, this piece is simple and beautiful. This piece uses the heel on one beat, and, again, has a beautiful counter-melody.

"How Great the Wisdom and the Love"

I would classify this arrangement as one of the more difficult pieces in this collection, but it is by far my favorite. The pedaling is just slightly more advanced than the previous pieces, but it also has a beautiful manual-only section with tied notes that can be a bit tricky to properly execute on the organ. This piece also contains a key change.

"In Humility, Our Savior"

With the melody bouncing from right hand to left, this piece requires hands to change manuals three times. The bass is a sustained note for over half of the song, then moves around a bit during the latter-middle section.

"Israel, Israel God Is Calling"

This piece is another of my favorites. The bass note changes almost every measure (see photo above), and the counter-melody is beautiful.

"Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee"

Again, this piece has very simple pedaling which is balanced by a moving counter-melody in the left hand. It's a lovely reverent, reflective piece.

"Oh How Lovely Was the Morning"

This is another of the more difficult pieces in this collection. The melody is played by the left hand while the right hand plays a moving line peppered with staccatos. The bass line moves around a little bit as well.

"Sweet is the Work"

With simple pedaling and a moving counter-melody, this arrangement is fun to play and beautiful to listen to.

In Conclusion

You can't go wrong with this book of arrangements. They are beautiful in their simplicity, and with fingerings and pedaling already written in, this book is ideal for a beginning organist.

Lesson 2: Demystifying the Organ Stops, Part 1

Click here for Lesson 1: Understanding the Parts of the Organ

This lesson covers one of my favorite topics--the stops of the organ. Today we'll cover the nitty-gritty of the stop numbers and Roman numerals, and next lesson we'll cover the beauty of the different tonal families.

Before we begin, however, it's important for you to familiarize yourself with the action of your stops. Some stops are simple tabs, like my older home organ. You push them down to select a stop, then lift them back up to deselect a stop:

Other organs may have rocker tabs or draw knobs. Most rocker tabs are selected by pushing on the bottom of the tab and deselected by pushing on the top, however some will select or deselect in either place. Draw knobs are pulled out to select a stop and pushed in to deselect a stop. Your organ may function differently, so take the time and learn how your organ works.

Once you are familiar with your organ's stop action, it's time to pull out the stop list you compiled in Before We Begin: Acquiring the Essentials. You'll notice that in addition to the names of the stops, two different kinds of numbers are also present. Almost every stop has a number such as 16, 8, or 2 2/3. Some stops may also have a Roman numeral, such as II or IV.

Traditional numbers

All electronic organs herald back to pipe organs and lengths of pipe. A rank of pipes with the longest pipe being 8 feet long will sound at unison pitch, like a piano. 8' stops are the foundation of organ playing. A rank of pipes with the longest pipe being 4 feet long will sound an octave higher than a piano. (The exception to this rule is a rank of stopped pipes, where the lowest pipe is 4 feet in length but sounds at unison pitch, so it is known as an 8' stop. Fortunately, you don't need to worry about stopped pipes--just the numbers on the stops which tell us the pitch they sound.)

The lowest stop on some church organs is a 32' stop. This stop sounds two octaves below the 8' foundation and is found in the pedal division. While the 32' stop adds powerful, rich bass tones to a full organ, it should rarely be used in hymn accompaniment.

The 16' stop, which sounds an octave below unison, is the foundation of the pedals in congregational accompaniment. When paired with an 8' stop, the 16' provides the substantial bass sound the organ is known for.

As mentioned before, the 8' stop is the foundation of the organ, as this "unison pitch," or fundamental pitch, is in the same octave as the piano. However, it must be paired with a 4' principal or flute stop in order to support congregational singing.

The 4' stops sound an octave higher than the fundamental pitch.

Yes, there is a pattern here! A 2' stop is two octaves higher than the fundamental pitch, and a 1' stop, which you may or may not see on your organ, sounds three octaves higher.

Along with these stops that represent various octaves, are mutation stops with fractions that produce non-octave tones of the harmonic series. Stops with 3 as the denominator of the fraction always produce a perfect fifth above the fundamental note, so 2 2/3’ produces a pitch that is an octave (since it's shorter than 4' but longer than 2') and a fifth higher than the fundamental pitch. 1 1/3' is two octaves (shorter than 2' but longer than 1') and a perfect fifth above the fundamental pitch. Stops with a 5 as the denominator will produce a major third above the fundamental, so 1-3/5’ sounds two octaves and a major third above fundamental pitch.

Here's a visual from the Pipe Organ Education Project that may help with understanding mutations:

Since mutations feature a tone between the octave-sounding pitches, their addition adds an additional timbre to the bright, full organ sound. They are also useful in building solo registration when coupled with 8' stops. We'll discuss them more when we cover various registrations.

Roman numerals

Roman numerals mean a very different thing than the numbers we just covered. Roman numerals represent compound stops, or stops that pull more than one rank, or simulated rank, of pipes. The Roman numeral tells you how many ranks of pipes sound on that particular stop. If it's II, two ranks sound. If it's IV, four ranks sound.

A common compound stop is a Flute Celeste II 8'. A celeste rank is pitched slightly higher than a regular rank. Combining it with a rank of the same family (such as Viole 8' and Viole Celeste 8') produces a warmer sound similar to the string section of the orchestra where all the players are using vibrato. This Flute Celeste II 8' stop will pull both a Flute 8' and a Flute Celeste 8'.

Another common compound stop is a Mixture IV, which includes four different principal ranks. Most mixture stops include only octave and fifth pitch levels, such as 2 2/3′, 2′, 1 1/3′, and 1′. (Often the pitches in a mixture may change, or break, depending on where you play the keyboard. Breaking simply means a higher pitch drops out and is replaced with a lower pitch.)

In Conclusion

At your organ with your stop list in hand, play middle C while selecting different stops. Make notes next to the stops on your list if you like. Familiarize yourself with your mutations and compound stops.

In Lesson 3: Demystifying the Organ Stops, Part 2 we will cover the different organ tonal families and there will be a lot of listening hands-on activities which continue into Lesson 4.

Sunday Song: Prelude in C Major

J.S. Bach's Prelude in C Major, played by Brian.