Tag Archives: William Porter

Summer Improv Courses 2016

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The Summer is a popular time for conferences and special courses. Here’s a list of opportunities to study improvisation at the organ this summer. If you know of others, please email me or share them in the comments so that I can add them to the website.

This summer is also the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists. It will take place in Houston July 19-23. Typically there is an improvisation competition and several workshop presentations on improvisation during the convention. I only spotted one improvisation workshop: Adagio Lost and Adagio Regained:
A Study of the Lost Art of Improvising in the Adagio Genre, with Emphasis on Handel’s Organ Concertos presented by HyeHyun Sung. The NCOI competition was restructured for this year with the preliminary round taking place last summer. (See my critique here.) No information about the competition is currently on the Houston website…

I am still considering offering a couple of days of improvisation instruction here. If you would be interested in coming to study with me at the Cathedral July 28-30, 2016, please let me know. Space for active participants will be limited. If there is sufficient interest, I’ll share more details soon.

Hoping you take some time this summer to improvise better,

Glenn

Newsletter Issue 58 – 2016 04 21

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Salve Regina

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Salve Regina - Solemn Tone

Salve Regina –
Solemn Tone

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ,
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Salve Regina, also known as Hail Holy Queen, is one of four Marian chant antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. It is traditionally sung at compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. It is also the final prayer of the rosary. There are two typical chant versions referred to as the solemn tone (above) and the simple tone (below). The solemn chant is in the Dorian mode while the simple chant is in the Lydian mode.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Salve Regina - Simple Tone

Salve Regina –
Simple Tone




Videos:
Nigel Allcoat – Symphonie Improvisée on ‘Salve Regina’ – St Nicolas du Chardonnet, Paris
Wm. Glenn Osborne – Postlude on ‘Salve Regina’ – Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Baltimore
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: I (Theme and Plein jeu)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: II (Scherzo)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: III (Meditation)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: IV (Introduction and Passacaglia)

Scherzo

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The word scherzo means a joke or a jest. It often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or string quartet, though it may also refer to a fast-moving humorous composition which is not part of a larger work.

The scherzo itself is a rounded binary form, but, like the minuet, is usually played with the accompanying Trio followed by a repeat of the Scherzo, creating the ABA or ternary form.

Video examples:
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: II (Scherzo)

Chant

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Having served as the music of the Roman Catholic Church for hundreds of years, chant has been the subject of improvisations throughout many different stylistic periods and in many different forms.
Some popular chant themes include:

Videos:
Gerre Hancock – Improvised versets on the Magnificat Solemn Tone – April 4, 2004 – St. Thomas
Otto Maria Krämer – Improvisation in Memoriam Marcel Dupré on “Ave maris stella”
Loïc Mallié Improvisation sur deux thèmes grégoriens
Olivier Messiaen – Puer Natus Est – La Trinité
Pierre Pincemaille – Conditor Alme Siderum – St. Denis
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: I (Theme and Plein jeu)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: II (Scherzo)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: III (Meditation)
William Porter – Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: IV (Introduction and Passacaglia)

Prelude

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Preludes usually serve as introductory movements in multi-movement works, though they also may stand alone. The formal structure varies widely. The title may also refer simply to the piece of music played at the beginning of a worship service.

Example videos:
Philippe Lefebvre – Prélude – 01.05.2011 – Notre Dame
Loïc Mallié – Entrée improvisée – La Trinité, Paris
Olivier Penin – Prelude – St. Clotilde
Pierre Pincemaille – Prélude – St. Denis
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
Johann Vexo – Messe du dimanche soir 07.04.2013 – Prélude
Johann Vexo – Vêpres 07.04.2013 – Prélude

William Porter

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William PorterPorter studied organ at Oberlin College and Yale University where he received the DMA degree in 1980. He taught harpsichord and organ at Oberlin from 1974 to 1986 and taught organ, music history and music theory at the New England Conservatory in Boston from 1985 to 2002. He has also taught organ improvisation at the Eastman School of Music and McGill University.

He has an article on North German Improvisational Practice in GOArt Research Reports Vol. 2 and an article on contrapuntal improvisation in the GOArt Research Reports, Vol. 3.

You can hear him on Spotify.


Recordings:

An Organ Portrait
Includes and improvised Magnificat setting.

Videos:
Three excerpts from a masterclass given by William Porter on Hymn-Tune Improvisations at the AGO National Convention in Washington, DC in July 2010:
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part I – Washington, DC
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part II – Washington, DC
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part III – Washington, DC

Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 1
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 2
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 3
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 4
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 5
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Canon
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Intermezzo
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Fugue
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: I (Theme and Plein jeu)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: II (Scherzo)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: III (Meditation)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: IV (Introduction and Passacaglia)

Fugue

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A fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and recurs frequently in the course of the composition.

David Briggs – Fugue at St. Sulpice
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Fugue
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Fugue