The Organ Forum

Hello  all I can remember a time when I was singing in a church choir performing an anthem for a service when the music stopped suddenly and I thought to myself this part is supposed to be accompanied. Anyway we kept singing and I asked the organist what happened after the service. It so happens that whist he was playing the anthem on the organ ( Baldwin studio II) a little old lady from outside came in through the back door and started to talk to him! She also knocked his music of the organ that is why He stopped playing. I never did find out what she had wanted as this happened about 20 years ago.

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Shaun
National SX 4300A organ Estey1912 Reed Organ

I was playing the Tocatta from Widor's 5th as a postlude on an Easter Sunday, when one of the sopranos from the choir who usually carried her nose a little far in the air came up and asked me what I was playing; usually I can carry a conversation while playing, but not during the Widor.  As I tried to communicate words between motor commands from my brain, she picks the book right up off my music rack and starts flipping the pages to find the title!!  Now, these days I can play that Tocatta from memory, but this was about 11 years ago and I hadn't reached that point with it then.  So, I was left with nothing but a guess as to what came after the last measure I had seen before my music disappeared.  Fortunately she had enough consideration to put it back on the music rack with the page I was on.  How audacious can one get, yunno?

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Dave Stevens
3-rank project chapel Wurlitzer
Hammond M with a 145 made from a gutted Spectratone 420 cabinet

Dave:  That is obscene!  It is beyond stupid, rude, ignorant, thoughtless, unforgivable, etc.  She should have been severely reprimanded later.  This has got to be one of the worst things of this nature that I have ever heard.

Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!

I've had a few disasters also as recently as 2 weeks ago . I was playing the first hymn second verse and I think a power surge went through and damaged either part of the power supply or the mother board of our allen 603.It was a struggle to find out what was working. It is not fixed to this day, the repairman bypassed 2 channels aand now am playing with 1 manuel and 50% of the organ while the board decides what to do.

But my most embarressing time was with a piano. I was accompanying a soloist at a funeral and as I did the last run up the keyboard, I finished with a b instead of  c, of course while he is holding his c. I had my back to the congregation and I am sure my face was bright red and I mouthed"I am so sorry" to which the solist started laughing hystericaly out loud. I  was flabbergasted until he said ' turn around' and then I saw there was no one left in the santuary.Thank God

That is so unbelievable, I would never, ever, ever have expected someone to pick up the music you are obviously playing from and flip through it while you need it! I agree very much with MenchenStimme.

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Once you can tie your arms into a pretzel and your legs into a knot, you've got it under control

Here we go, time for confession:

I'm not a professional musician, so I don't exactly concertize or do a whole lot of public performances, but I've had my fair share of organ mishaps.  I have myself to blame for most of them.  Sometimes I'll get overconfident and try to sight read a piece for prelude that I have no business sight reading and won't realize that I've made a terrible decision until halfway through the piece.  I can't remember starting the wrong hymn, but that doesn't mean it's never happened.  I did shut off the organ after the 2nd verse when there was a 3rd verse, I had to turn on the organ and start the 3rd verse.  There was a pretty solid 10 second between verses.  That was one of my worst fumbles.  Just the other day I went to hit the Nasat tab during a sacrament hymn (LDS equivalent of communion) and got the Nasat + Trompette.  Fortunately, some very fast and frantic hand work mostly saved that one.  Sometimes I'll use a last verse harmonization that really should never have been published in the first place, and get weird looks afterwards.

If anyone has watched videos on my YouTube channel, the first time I soloed that lively improvisation on "How Firm a Foundation," my hands were completely spasming out of stage fright.  I could barely keep them on the manuals.  I think that one was quite noticeable.  I've done that one since with better results.  I performed the Vierne Final at a recital with the help of a beta blocker.  What a difference that was.  On the final upwards modulation, I almost spun out of control, but I held it together and overall the performance went very well (with the exception of a pedal glissando done on a whim which I immediately regretted since it didn't really give the effect I was hoping for)

 Most of my public performances are just me doing my duties as a church organist.  I admit, I don't really hold myself to Doctoral standards in that position, perhaps I should though.  It's done on a volunteer basis and this particular LDS congregation seems rather lethargic about their music, so I have a difficult time finding the motivation to make it really sparkle, aside from my postludes which are usually just the pieces I'm working on anyway.

Dave S.

 Your story just jogged my memory to recall a postlude from this summer.  We were worshiping in temporary settings while the sanctuary was getting an overhaul, and I was using my home Galanti organ, or perhaps I'd have not done the following: I have a know-it-all bass who is usually limited to comments, not actions.  This particular Sunday I was playing the postlude and he came from behind and started reading the music over my shoulder.  Before I was ready, he "helpfully" turned my page!!!!!!   I played a measure or two and just lost my cool.  I could have kept on going, but decided to teach him a lesson (my meds must not have been working?!?  I'm usually pretty patient, honestly.) Anyway, I just stopped cold, dead silent.  I looked around and said simply, "I wasn't ready for that".  Then I turned the page back, found a starting place, and played ahead, turning the page myself that time.  He waited until I was finished, apologized profusely, and promised never to do it again!  He's been much more manageable since then.

 

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Holtkamp/Parkey pipe organ
Galanti Praeludium home instrument

Stephanussen, thanks for sharing that 'confessional' - had you not mentioned it, I'm sure nobody would have realized what you go through; you always seem cool as a cucumber. 

I had a minor disaster a few weeks ago... I was playing an orchestral reduction for a choral concert, and was the sole accompaniment (a little bit of pressure).  In the second half of the concert during one of the Allegro movements my page turner turned two measures too early.    The piece had four beats to a measure and a running line of sixteenth notes in the right hand.  Once he turned that page I had no idea what the right hand part was supposed to play, so I was obliged to stop playing the RH part.  I tried to keep the left hand part going, but by then I had lost the downbeat!  I then tried to 'fill', which didn't really work as I didn't quite have the correct harmony in my ear.  In retrospect I probably should have played nothing until I was sure of myself.

The worst part was that half of the choir followed me, and the other half kept going - it was an extremely confusing moment.    Luckily we were able to recover fairly quickly but it seemed like an eternity.  The rest of the concert went seamlessly, but that horrible bit is forever enshrined in the recording. 

One consolation was that a number of choristers approached me afterward, all with the same conclusion: "it must have been your page turner?" 

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Soubasse32

This might make an interesting segway...

Have you ever heard any mistakes in any CD/Tape/Vinyl recordings played by famous organists?

This might be a more difficult one since the performer has the opportunity to do as many retakes as needs be, but I'll "throw it out" anyway as a topic.

Just to get started.

I swear that I can hear a mistake in Karl Richter's performance of BWV593 (Vivaldi Concerto). Its right at the beginning about 20 secs in and I'm pretty sure he clips a note in the right hand. I've looked in two different editions and can't seem to find any justification for it so it must be a mistake.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organ-Concerto-minor-after-Vivaldis/dp/B001N2F4OQ/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1229361835&sr=8-32

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Currently own:
ALLEN TC-3S (#42904 - 3rd Feb 1971) with Sequential Capture System

Speakers:
x1 Model 100 Gyro Cabinet
x1 Model 105 Cabinet
x3 Model 108 Cabinet

I seem to recall that Virgil Fox made two direct-to-disc LP recordings on the then-new Ruffati at Garden Grove Community Church and played an extra pedal note or two in the Widor 5th Toccata.  Can anyone here confirm or deny this?  My memory is unclear in this regard.

nullogik:

I swear that I can hear a mistake in Karl Richter's performance of BWV593 (Vivaldi Concerto). Its right at the beginning about 20 secs in and I'm pretty sure he clips a note in the right hand. I've looked in two different editions and can't seem to find any justification for it so it must be a mistake.

The clip you provided is to the 2nd movement - is that where you heard the mistake?

I listened to the clip and didn't hear any problem so I listened to the clip of the first movement; I didn't hear anything there either.    I'm not sure if I have that recording in my library or not.  If it is on an LP I'm out of luck (my turntables need new styli - it's not going to happen anytime soon).

I do worry about people being critical re: a missed note.  Even when I've been diligent in practicing I still have a handful of missed notes in each performance.  My sincere hope is that folks can overlook those and come away with the feeling that I had communicated a sense of the music.  It has taken me a very long time to accept that I cannot be perfect - I used to repeatedly anguish over those mistakes in my recordings but as I get older I worry less about it.  As they say, life is too short!

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Soubasse32

soubasse32:

I do worry about people being critical re: a missed note.  Even when I've been diligent in practicing I still have a handful of missed notes in each performance.  My sincere hope is that folks can overlook those and come away with the feeling that I had communicated a sense of the music.  It has taken me a very long time to accept that I cannot be perfect - I used to repeatedly anguish over those mistakes in my recordings but as I get older I worry less about it.  As they say, life is too short!

Thank you, SB32!  Such a comment from a consummate professional is comforting to us who sometimes are just trying to make it through a simple Mass.  God bless!

This is probably not the kind of mistake that you all are referring to, but years ago I played for a wedding in a church that I was not familiar with. I had never attended a service there, much less a wedding. The bride was the older sister of one of my piano students.

Anyhow, the organ was at the back of the choir loft, which was at the front of the church, and when I say loft, I mean loft! The floor of it was above the pastor's head when he was preaching behind the pulpit. And, for the wedding, he was down on the floor, four feet lower than in the pulpit. Needless to say, I couldn't see any of the action.

The order of the ceremony was different than I was used to , and I forgot what was to be my cue to start the "Wedding March", the piece used for the bride and groom to leave, followed by the others. I was used to doing it as soon as the groom kissed the bride, and that is what I did. But, no one started leaving! I didn't know what to do.

Finally, a woman in the back of the church started waving her hands over her head, and I knew that I had goofed! Needless to say I shut it down as soon as possible. The service went on.

At last, it (the ceremony) apparently ended, but I was too spooked to start the music. Fortunately, the same woman started waving her hands again, and I did my job, and hurried up to get out of the situation, and that church.

The bride forgave me, but I have never since then played a wedding without thinking about that particular one.

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Mike

owner of an Allen MDS317 and working
on a custom digital using a Rodgers 220
console. I play a forty rank pipe organ on Sunday mornings.

Mike,

Reminds me of a wedding goof-up that wasn't my fault. It was several years ago, one of the first really big weddings I'd ever played for. I was a little nervous and had practiced hard to be able to play "Wedding March" confidently as the recessional. (I know it's easy to most of you guys, but for an amateur like me it was a challenge.) The entire wedding party of about twenty were to exit the church in grand parade at the close of the ceremony, and the families were to be escorted out while I was to play at full tilt for several minutes. It all went swimmingly at the rehearsal. But then, at the end of the REAL ceremony . . .

For some yet unknown reason the minister (who was pushing 80 at the time and past his prime in many ways) allowed the bride and groom to get down the aisle, then promptly grabbed a microphone and declared the ceremony over, and invited everyone to the reception! I hadn't played 20 seconds, and the rest of the wedding party was stranded at the front of the church, as were the couple's parents, grandparents, and various other relatives.

The grandeur of the moment somewhat tarnished, I continued to play, sort of mezzo-piano, while the wedding party and the guests simply all left in a wad.

John

 

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Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!

soubasse32:

I do worry about people being critical re: a missed note.  Even when I've been diligent in practicing I still have a handful of missed notes in each performance.  My sincere hope is that folks can overlook those and come away with the feeling that I had communicated a sense of the music.  It has taken me a very long time to accept that I cannot be perfect - I used to repeatedly anguish over those mistakes in my recordings but as I get older I worry less about it.  As they say, life is too short!

I thought it might have been an interesting tangent to go on. The perception (misguided or not), is that these pros play things to perfection (or very near it) so its comforting to know that they aren't any different to the rest of us and do make boo-boos from time to time.

Like you I used to fret over any slight mistake, but slowly (I'm not totally there yet) I'm beginning to realise that playing every single note correctly is not the point - its getting the music across to the listener in an effective and communicative way. After all, if it was all about precision then we'd just let computers play scores and ignore the fact that no matter how good the program is, it always sounds robotic and too "clean"..

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Currently own:
ALLEN TC-3S (#42904 - 3rd Feb 1971) with Sequential Capture System

Speakers:
x1 Model 100 Gyro Cabinet
x1 Model 105 Cabinet
x3 Model 108 Cabinet