Fettler
07-24-2006, 02:33 PM
Had a rough day at church yesterday. Actually, I had intended to 'have one off' as I spent the weekend camping on a farm in Yorkshire but decided to come home early as there wasn't much happening. Consequently, I did my duty and attended church. Now I wish I had stayed on the farm!</P>
The organ in our church is a bit of an old buzzard. It seems to have a mind of its own and recently we have had trouble with its keys sticking. I suppose it is due to the heat we have had in Britain of late, and I am guessing that the humidity in the atmosphere is affecting the wood (tracker action). However, what happened yesterday was down to 100% human error and not the organ. Basically, all went well until the postlude. I did 'Epilogue' by Norman Gilbertwhich I hadpracticed on my little organ at home. What happened in my brain between then and playing it on the pipe organ I have no idea, but my feet disowned me. They were producing the most horrendous noises. Normally, you can get away with bum notes on the pedals if they are not 'subject matter' but guess what? Yes, the pedals were echoing the motif of the tune, and so stuck out like a sore thumb! How I ached for the end to come, and I eventually curtailed the piece before the Allegro: I had done enough damage! </P>
How things can change within a week. Last week, I did Sortie in Bb by our old friend Lefebure'Wely which went really well. As you can imagine, after yesterdays little episode I thought of bringing down a permanent 'Epilogue' on my playing career, but I had to get straight back on the 'bike' again this morning for a funeral. All went well, so I suppose that everything an organist (or indeed, any musician)learns and experiences along the way all goes into a big bag of tricks, and as long as you learn by your mistakes (in this case, probably not enough practice on the organ at church) then there is no harm done.</P>
What do you think?</P>
The organ in our church is a bit of an old buzzard. It seems to have a mind of its own and recently we have had trouble with its keys sticking. I suppose it is due to the heat we have had in Britain of late, and I am guessing that the humidity in the atmosphere is affecting the wood (tracker action). However, what happened yesterday was down to 100% human error and not the organ. Basically, all went well until the postlude. I did 'Epilogue' by Norman Gilbertwhich I hadpracticed on my little organ at home. What happened in my brain between then and playing it on the pipe organ I have no idea, but my feet disowned me. They were producing the most horrendous noises. Normally, you can get away with bum notes on the pedals if they are not 'subject matter' but guess what? Yes, the pedals were echoing the motif of the tune, and so stuck out like a sore thumb! How I ached for the end to come, and I eventually curtailed the piece before the Allegro: I had done enough damage! </P>
How things can change within a week. Last week, I did Sortie in Bb by our old friend Lefebure'Wely which went really well. As you can imagine, after yesterdays little episode I thought of bringing down a permanent 'Epilogue' on my playing career, but I had to get straight back on the 'bike' again this morning for a funeral. All went well, so I suppose that everything an organist (or indeed, any musician)learns and experiences along the way all goes into a big bag of tricks, and as long as you learn by your mistakes (in this case, probably not enough practice on the organ at church) then there is no harm done.</P>
What do you think?</P>