Manny times I have read sheet music and it calls for full organ. Is this an option or should I toy around with what I have to match to music.
And I want to ask this because, would full organ be way too loud In certain music?
Full organ doesn't usually imply all the stops, but more often a plenum registration. Try principals 8, 4, 2, Mixture, maybe with 2-2-/3; flutes can usually be substituted for some of the pitches, not usually both principal and flute.
For a smaller full organ sound, try gedackt 8, principal 4, mixture.
Registration should always be adjusted to the organ and the acoustics and the music. There is no standard stoplist for organs, so the organist has to learn to "orchestrate" with the instrument at hand "and feet".:->
The reason why I bring this up is that I often find this in arrangements particularly with one where this guy took a Harmonium piece and he stuck a pedal line (which I'm rewriting). He called for grand organ or full organ but I really not liking the idea of the rapid passages with such volume (ok if done right) that would be best served by a good registration.
He called for grand organ or full organ but I really not liking the idea of the rapid passages with such volume (ok if done right) that would be best served by a good registration.
Ben,
My guess is the composer is a French composer? The French often interchanged harmonium and pipe organ music. If so, then grand jeu refers to a specific registration for French literature. You may also see plein jeu, fonds, tierce (not just the stop), or cornét. These are all specifications for French registration that would have been easily understood at the time the composer lived. In general, scholars agree regarding the basics of registration of contemporary organs to meet the requirements of the music. The French composers were very specific in what stops they wanted used, and often wrote it in their music. Other notations in the score would have been understood at the time, like M.G., which stands for main gauche (to play with the left hand). Fauré used that notation at least once in the organ part of his Réquiem.
It is never good practice to pull out all the stops on an organ--especially a pipe organ. Some stops become wind robbers when using a large registration. An example of this is stops like the Aeoline, Dulciana, Voix Celeste, and various other soft and string stops. Alone or with a small registration, they sound wonderful, but with a full organ they're hardly missed when canceled, and just end up taking wind from the larger stops that need the extra air.
Full organ doesn't mean LOUD!
Hope this helps.
Michael
Way too many organs to list, but I do have 5 Allens:
The reason why I bring this up is that I often find this in arrangements particularly with one where this guy took a Harmonium piece and he stuck a pedal line (which I'm rewriting). .
The score for this piece did not call originally for a pedal line, it was added later I believe it was dated in the early 1800s, the score I have had the pedal line.
Michael gives an excellent answer and from my perspective, I wish all organists understood such things. As organ builders it is our job to set up the tutti and crescendo so it is imperative to know what stops belong on them and which do not. These days, with solid state technology, there are often two tutti (or more) or sforz pistons. Sometimes the reeds are left off one. With a large organ there can be many levels of full organ.
Wind robbers are an excellent point to bring up. "Pulling out all the stops" is a bad idea. In addition to the obvious ones such as soft stops and celestes, we usually leave out the 2' fifteenth if there is a mixture. Mixtures usually have a 2' rank and it will "fight" with the independent 2'. Flutes at higher pitches are left out - depending on their nature. If it is a small organ and it has only a 4' spitzflute as an octave pitch in that division, it stays in. If it is a larger division with an independant 4' octave and the flute is something "fat" like a koppelflute, it stays out.
Color reeds are usually left out too, such as a krummhorm, vox humana, rohrschalmei and any member of the regal family.
Occasionally 16' flues will "clash". For instance, turning on a bourdon with an open wood will in some cases produce a softer tone because of cancellation. This is rare though.
The score for this piece did not call originally for a pedal line, it was added later I believe it was dated in the early 1800s, the score I have had the pedal line.
Sounds rather strange to me as the harmonium was typically a late 1800's instrument. Would be helpful if you just mentioned the piece and composer.
1) I despise arrangements in which a pedal line has been created/added to or extracted from a perfectly good piece of music for manuals. ONLY if your feet can move as swiftly as your left hand (and even then I have doubts) can you even attempt to give the bass line the same energy that it would have if played by the hands. I have some Stanley that was ruined that way. The only reason I keep the scores is to show students how un-musical and stupid this is. It seems to be a product of "if it doesn't have a pedal line, it can't be organ music" kind of thinking. NARROW MINDS with limited experience created those editions and they should be burned. (Gosh, that was subtle, wasn't it!)
2) Full Organ, as has been mentioned, is basically the loud stops, but not necessarily the loudest that the organ will go. Most start with a basic principal chorus, to which are added mixtures and/or reeds. This can involve coupling manuals.
Things to watch for:
- stops or stop combinations that create a muddy texture. As mentioned above, too many of the wrong stops at the same pitch can cause this. It can vary from organ to organ.
- too much upperwork (eg. mixtures) without enough 16' tone to support it (or it can sound top-heavy or screechy). A good organ will allow you to balance out the brilliance of the mixture with the depth of an appropriate 16' stop.
The two versions with pedal on IMSLP take, in my view, unacceptable liberties with the music and I would avoid. The version you have may be better but I can't see how you could add a pedal part successfully without ruining the composer's intentions.
As for registration; it's not the original composer's, so feel free to do what seems to work. I'd go for a French sound if possible: 8 & 4 foot flues (diapasons, with or without flutes) and a bright, responsive reed stop. The dynamics could be done mainly by use of the swell pedal. Full organ might be fine, but probably no 16 foots.
But, see what works: there's no right or wrong when you play this on the organ.
The reason i bring up the matter is that i saw Peter Conte play it on the Large Seven manual Boardwalk Hall organ and they did a close up of him playing and artistry on the piece was top notch on all counts the pedal line that he added mixed well and followed the music.
The reason i bring up the matter is that i saw Peter Conte play it on the Large Seven manual Boardwalk Hall organ. . . .
Are you sure it wasn't the Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia, PA? He is organist in residence there, but another organist presides at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
Michael
Way too many organs to list, but I do have 5 Allens:
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