Holy Redeemer will hold its Lenten Penance service this evening. As mentioned for the previous Secret Concert, this will be over one hour of quiet reflective improvisations on seasonal themes as people go to individual confession. The service begins at 7pm, and I expect to start playing solo instrumental music around 7:30pm.
The Morrison Choir with David Bellows, Director, will present The Crucifixion by John Stainer in concert on Monday evening, March 31 at 7:30 pm. Wm. Glenn Osborne will accompany the performance at the organ.
John Mason presents his choral conducting recital for his Master of Music degree at the University of Central Florida. Included will be works by Brunner, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Rutter, and others. Wm. Glenn Osborne will accompany at the organ.
Wm. Glenn Osborne and Jaime Carini will present a concert of organ duets at First Church of Christ, Scientist in Daytona Beach. Included on the program will be works of Gustav Merkel, Johann Strauss Jr., Modest Mussorgsky, and others. The program will feature the US premier of The Apostles by Naji Hakim.
Wm. Glenn Osborne and Jaime Carini will present a concert of organ duets as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the installation of the organ at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, FL. Included on the program will be works of Gustav Merkel, Johann Strauss Jr., Modest Mussorgsky, and others. The program will feature the US premier of The Apostles by Naji Hakim. The complete program is available here.
Jaime Carini & Wm Glenn Osborne prepare for organ duet concerts on Friday, March 21, 2014, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, Florida, and Sunday, March 23, 2014 at First Church of Christ, Scientist in Daytona Beach, FL.
This excerpt is from a set of waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr. arranged for four feet. We took this video today while practicing in Daytona to see how we might better avoid each other….
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! While everyone was out celebrating, Jaime and I were working on our program for our concerts this weekend. We still have some polishing to do, but here is a little teaser so you can see a little of what happens when two people sit down at the organ.
Because our concert in Winter Park is the same weekend as the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, we chose to include as many art-inspired music selections as possible. While looking for repertoire, I discovered a set of pieces for organ duet by Naji Hakim inspired by wood carvings by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Apostles presents a series of short movements based upon the artwork but also making use of Gregorian chant and other chorale themes. As the composition was only written in 2011 and not that many people perform organ duets, I recently contacted Dr. Hakim and was informed that we would be doing the US premier! We are super excited to be the first American performers and hope you will be able to come hear it at one of the concerts on Friday or Sunday!
Wishing you all the luck of the Irish!
Glenn
Newsletter Issue 17 – 2014 03 18
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The Printed PageFor hundreds of years, people have been searching for ways to write music down on a piece of paper. While there have been great advances from the squiggles above the text in early chant manuscripts, enabling us to become more and more precise about how to replicate music, I believe that it is not possible to confine music to black and white notation.
While everyone generally acknowledges that information, thoughts and feelings can be conveyed in written words, how many people have had the joy of having an email or text message misunderstood? Even with the spoken word, tone, volume, inflection, and even body posture can add or completely change the meaning of a group of words. One of my favorite stories is about a language teacher who is explaining that in some languages double negatives make a positive while in other languages, a double negative remains negative, but there is no language where two positives make a negative. From the back of the room, a student pipes up, “Yeah, right.”
Tone and inflection can make a huge difference in the message conveyed with words. I even understand there are some languages where the same combination of sounds pronounced with different inflection become completely different words! While our music notation has become more precise over time, I do not believe we will ever manage to capture all the intricacies of tone and inflection on the printed page.
Since it is impossible to capture all the details of a piece of music and put them on a piece of paper, we have to make some form of interpretive judgment. This is where performance practice applies, but also where taste and personal judgment enter the scene. In the realm of classical music, we have scholars who research the instruments and writings of the era in order to offer opinions and guidance about how a performer of that time period would have interpreted the page of a musical score. We can choose to follow their guidance, or choose our own path. Leopold Stokowski adapted Bach for orchestra. Did he follow proper performance practice? No, but did he make music? Yes. One of the organists causing a bit of controversy with his use and view of the organ is Cameron Carpenter. He just unveiled a new touring instrument at Alice Tully Hall earlier this month. While I haven’t yet seen a video of him playing the new instrument, you can watch him play the Bach Toccata and Fugue:
Regardless of how you might feel about Cameron Carpenter’s interpretation of J.S. Bach, he uses the printed page and the instrument available to him to convey his artistic decisions. Would these be the choices I would make? If I had his technique, maybe. Will he always play it this way? I doubt it. One of the points I believe I’ve heard him make in an interview is that often organists are more concerned about the instrument they are playing than about how they are playing the instrument, and this may be the reason why so many people have lost interest in the organ. If we pay more attention to getting off the printed page and actually conveying thoughts or emotions through music, perhaps there would be more enthusiastic supporters of organ music in the world.
I’ll be doing my part over the next few weeks to make music and keep up interest in the organ. Coming up next are a set of two organ duet concerts. The same program featuring art-inspired organ music will be performed in both Winter Park and Daytona. After that, there are several choral concerts with prominent organ parts. If you are not able to come and hear one of these concerts, I hope you will be able to enjoy some live music making in your own neighborhood!
Wishing you all the best,
Glenn
Newsletter Issue 16 – 2014 03 12
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The beloved third bishop of Orlando passed into eternal life in February 2013, and we fondly remember his gentle pastoral leadership. Bishop Dorsey, an accomplished musician, supporter of the Basilica Choir, and lover of Mozart, will be honored at this performance of Mozart’s immortal Requiem by the Basilica Choir and Orchestra, under the direction of William Picher.
This free event will include multiple workshops on topics related to working as a church musician. The event is meant to attract new members to our chapter, especially part-time musicians. Some topics include communication skills, midi, organ registration, vocal techniques and organ for pianists. Wm. Glenn Osborne will present a workshop on beginning improvisation.
Laura Ellis, Organ Professor from University of Florida and AGO Regional Councillor will join us for this event. Lunch will be provided.