Thursday, April 15, 2010
Jehan Alain - Litanies
I'm starting to learn this piece, and it may close my Senior Recital. My dream is to play it on an organ that sounds even half as good as this one.
The text that Alain included with this piece:
"When, in its distress, the christian soul can find no more words to implore the mercy of God, it repeats, times without end, the same fierce-faithed prayer. Reason reaches its limits and only belief can chase its flight."
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6 comments:
I love the long ominous, atmospheric chords starting at 4:09, ending around 4:23. The chord transition at 4:17... lasting until 4:22 really sinks in with me. What is that chord?
A question, Mary:
When you learn a composition, especially an intricated one such as this, do you come to a point (after practicing over and over) where you no longer need to look at notation, eventually achieving "finger memory"? Or is it a combination of both, i.e. looking and remembering?
Give a heads up just prior to your recital and I will pray for your intention.
Just wow! This sounds amazing! And I know you'll be able to master it!! Can't wait to hear you play it around here!!!
Hi TH2,
"What is that chord?" is not as simple a question as it may seem. In most modern music (modern means the last 200 years or so), the composer writes the piece in a particular key, and the chords can be referenced to that key. So if a piece is written in the key of C Major, a G Major chord would be the Dominant (V) of C; in other words, a particular chord has a function within the key in which it is written. So if C is tonic, its designation is a "I" chord, F is "IV", G is "V", etc. That's why there folks like to joke about pop music using three chords: I, IV, and V. (And it's also how you get more interesting pop music, by using things like minor vi chords.)
Moving on, this piece isn't written in any particular key. Additionally, there's no time signature on it either. This piece starts out with five flats. Normally that would be the key of D-flat Major, but not here!
The section you're referring to has no flats or sharps in the key signature; all the accidentals (sharps and flats) are written in. The first long chord you hear is a C Major chord, then it moves to D Major, A Minor, then A-flat Minor (and that's the transition you're talking about at 4:17 - from A to A-flat Minor). After that, the five-flat key signature comes back, but the final chord is built on E-flat, with octaves in the pedal, six notes in the left hand, and five notes in the right. So cool!
So the reason I said it's not that easy to answer is because those chords don't have any particular function, melodically speaking, in the piece. They're just awesome by their own right.
As far as learning the composition, you're exactly right on both counts. There's no substitute for finger/muscle memory, and it's something achieved only over time. So practicing a piece for two weeks for an hour a day is FAR superior to practicing one week for two hours a day.
Depending on the piece, memorization can come fairly easy; Bach is easy to memorize because his music makes melodic sense. On the other hand, the Ropek Variations on Victimae Paschali Laudes has a LOT of "random" notes in it that make NO sense at all. I still must rely on looking at the music at all times in order to play it.
It's likely that my senior recital won't be for another two years since I'm a part-time student. However, my piano-teacher-from-youth is trying to get me some gigs after hearing my junior recital. I'm a little nervous about that, but figure that it may be God's Will for me to do it, so I'm remaining open to the idea. (I had previously told my organ teacher, who wanted me to play more recitals, that I was not interested, and just wanted to move on learning new music.) Thank you for your prayers.
ACK! I thought I was previewing that comment instead of publishing. BIG correction, TH2: The chord transition you're talking about is from A minor to A-flat MAJOR.
MCK,
The St. Paul organ actually sounds pretty darn good with this piece. I was very surprised when I tried out registrations yesterday. I am SO excited to play this as a prelude! (I may get fired afterward.)
Cmaj-Dmaj-Amin-Abmaj.... got it. I am gonna try this sequence on my old, 1980s Korg Poly-61 synthesizer.
Thanks for the detailed response. It was like being in a music theory class.
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