Victimae paschali laudes

Victimae paschali laudes is the Sequence chant for Easter Day. Charles Tournemire recorded an improvisation on the chant which was later transcribed be Maurice Duruflé. This transcription has become a popular piece of organ literature. See a list of other popular chant themes here. Videos: Charles Tournemire (Philippe Lefebvre plays) – Victimae paschali laudes – … Continue reading

AGO Boston 2014

The 2014 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists will be held June 23-27 in Boston. The convention website with complete information may be found here. Listed below is information about the events at the convention that will include or focus on improvisation: National Competition in Improvisation: Semi-final competition round Monday, June 23, 9am … Continue reading

Video Master List

This page will attempt to list all the YouTube video links included somewhere on this website…. A list of audio files is available at the audio master list. You can watch them all in this playlist or each one is listed below in alphabetical order by performer: Jörg Abbing – Improvisation (Intermezzo) – Saarbrücken Jörg … Continue reading

Jean Langlais

Website: http://www.jeanlanglais.com You can hear him on Spotify. Jean Langlais (1907 – 1991) was sent to the Paris National Institute for the Young Blind in 1918 where he studied piano, violon, harmony and organ with great blind teachers including Albert Mahaut and Andre Marchal. Later, he entered the Paris National Conservatory of Music in the … Continue reading

Philippe Lefebvre

With the encouragement of Pierre Cochereau, Philippe Lefebvre began organ studies at the Conservatoire de Lille before entering the class of Rolande Falcinelli at the Conservatoire de Paris. He won the premier prix for improvisation at the international Lyon competition in 1972 and then the grand prix for improvisation at the international Chartres competition. In … Continue reading

Organists

Here is a list of some of the people that improvise. More information including videos, recordings, and even books may be found on each organist’s individual page. Organists Jörg Abbing Nigel Allcoat Martin Bacot George Baker Martin Baker Bernard Bartelink Sebastian Bartmann Kerry Beaumont Henri-Franck Beaupérin Edoardo Bellotti Jan Bender Justin Bischof Frédéric Blanc Klaas … Continue reading

Forms and Styles

Good improvisations are coherent in style, may follow a specific formal structure, or otherwise are created for a specific function. Each of the pages below gives a brief explanation of the form, function, or style and then offers examples. Forms Fugue Passacaglia Scherzo Symphony Functions Prelude Offertory Communion Postlude (Sortie) Styles French Classical Vivaldi German … Continue reading

Books

Listed below are various method books on the study of improvisation. Many are available through Amazon.com. Links to Amazon.com below are affiliate links and will result in a modest commission paid to me without any increase to your cost. Jan Bender Organ Improvisation for Beginners: A Book of Self-Instruction for Church Musicians : Op. 59 … Continue reading