A review of George Walker’s “Poem for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra”

 George Walker, who died in 2018 at the age of 96, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer – the first Black composer to have nabbed that prize – and pianist, who was also the first Black soloist to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute’s first Black graduate. And his Pulitzer-winning piece, “Lilacs,” setting a Lincoln eulogy by Walt Whitman, should be a mandated substitute for Aaron Copland’s odiously puerile “Lincoln Portrait.” Below, we travel back to 1987 and my review of a performance by Albany’s Capitol Chamber Artists, who championed Walker’s work.

THERE SHOULD BE A LAW banning frivolous settings of T. S. Eliot’s poems. And there should be a national celebration when a thoughtful setting comes along that does justice to Eliot’s work.

In which case composer George Walker would be hoisted upon shoulders for his brand-new setting of "The Hollow Men."

Capitol Chamber Artists premiered the work this weekend, locally at Page Hall in Albany last night. Walker’s “Poem for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra” is more than just a chamber piece, however. With its surprising theatrical touches and disquieting voice, it is a completely appropriate and thought-provoking interpretation of the text.

Scoring is for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, guitar, piano, harpsichord and percussion battery; in addition to the soprano two speakers (human, not electronic) are required.

Soprano Mary Anne Ross entered in whiteface, an old felt hat on her head, a blanket grasped round her waist. She carried a plastic bag bulging with street-life stuff.

Michael Murphy, one of the speakers, was ragged and unshaven and wore a woolen watch cap. He uttered the poem’s epigraph (from Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”) as the music began.

This isn’t a work that offers its own melodies. The music is lifted from the words in the poem, from the twists that Walker’s ear has discerned. It might not be the music you and I here, but one of the biggest challenges Eliot offers is diversity of interpretation.

The music was fragmented, constantly shifting in tempo. Little bursts tossed from instrument to instrument as Ross began the first stanza.

Each of the five sections shifted a little in character, as the poem suggests. Many violent, unpleasant words are cloaked in Eliot’s elegance, and Walker’s setting sought and realized that violence.

This is the dream-poem of a person too desperately unhappy to put thoughts into words, and that feeling of having ventured into a dream was supported by the eerie shifts in the music, the same sense you have when a high fever causes your thoughts to shimmer into dreams.

In the end, the thoughts are fragmented enough that Janet Rowe, the second speaker, murmured a poetic counterpoint behind the famous closing lines.

It’s no easy task to perform a score like this one: credit goes not only to conductor Angelo Frascarelli but also to each member of the ensemble. Percussionists Richard Albagli and Scott Stacey moved like wizards; Malcolm Kogut was dexterous in his keyboard work as he shifted from piano to harpsichord and back again.

Irvin Gilman and Charles Stancampiano played the wind instruments; strings were Mary Lou Saetta and Douglas Moore. Sam Farkas was the guitarist.

Walker’s “Poem,” commissioned by CCA in conjunction with a consortium of other chamber groups, is a devastating work, deserving of greater attention.

This premiere is one of the more prestigious occasions that Albany has overlooked lately.

The program of this concert took some shifts since it was announced last autumn. Beethoven’s Serenade in D Major, Op. 25, was moved to front of the program, and presented Gilman, Saetta and Rowe on flute, violin and viola in a five-movement work very much in the classical tradition.

It’s a fun piece of occasional music, already showing the whimsy that Beethoven would make the most of in later compositions. It was the right choice, too, to warm the audience up for the Walker work that began the second half.

From there on in it was all enjoyable fluff. Heitor Villa-Lobos seems to have written something for every possible combination of instruments: “Distribution of the Flowers” is for flute and guitar, and Gilman and Farkas had a ball with it.

Gilman, Saetta and Kogut joined forces for two short works: a minuet by Haydn and a rondo by Mozart, the latter a “Turkish dance” that featured Gilman’s sprightly piccolo.

And the conclusion was downright hilarious. Adolphe Adam, a Frenchman with romance in his heart, fiddled with Mozart’s variations on the tune we know as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to provide a soprano showcase, the kind of deal you would have heard at a “society” dinner party as the special guest showed off her tonsils.

With Kogut at the piano, Gilman and Ross took turns (with flute and voice) dancing through these fanciful variations, complete with a voice-busting cadenza before the big finish.

All in all, this was program of contrast and delight.

In piano playing, what does “to caress the keys” mean?

There is an old technique called carrezando which literally means to caress the keys. Carrezando playing can injure a musician, it is very dangerous. The reason is because people think it is a technique when in reality it is the symptom or end result of technique. It should not be sought after but rejoiced when it appears.

This is a condition of virtuoso teaching. Many virtuosos move properly and never fully learned the biomechanics of playing because playing well came naturally to them so when they teach, they tell the student what they feel and not what they are doing to get that feeling. The student then tries to force that feeling into their playing but they can make many mistakes while trying to obtain it. Virtuosos are often the worse teachers because they sometimes don’t know how they do what they do.

Consequently students who try to force caressing into their technique begin pressing into the keys, playing with flat fingers and doing all sorts of things which will strain the tendons and then crippling pain will ensue over time because the damage is cumulative. The pianist will ignore the warning signs until one day something just breaks.

Ergonomic playing requires in/out motions, up/down, forward/backward and left/right. When you combine all these movements the player begins to play up and allows gravity to play down. The symptom of the congealment of all these motions is the feeling of caressing the keys. The pianist should not be caressing them but should feel like they are caressing them. When done properly the pianist won’t even feel their fingers because the skeleton will be playing from the arm muscles while the tendons in the hands predominately relax.

Much like petting a dog. Your arm lifts up, you move it toward the head, then down, then you pet down the dog’s back. There are four movements there and without them, there would be no petting. The petting is the result of the four movements where the hand appears do be doing the petting, using the arm.

Better yet, lay your arm on a table and lift your elbow off the table, allow your wrist to flex but keep all your fingertips on the table top. Now pull your arm off the table. Feel that your fingers are caressing the table but the fingers are NOT doing the caressing, it is the result of the arm pulling away. THAT is the carrezando technique. 

But every motion MUST have an equal and opposite motion. Like petting that dog, before you can pet down the dog’s back you must first lift up and forward before you can drop down and backward. If you focus on caressing, you will lose the equal and opposite motions required to play properly. Your fingers have no muscles, all the muscles which move your fingers are in your arm. The finger bones move by a pulley system of tendons. All these equal and opposite motions are what gives a pianist a graceful look but some players force that look into their playing. Now, some schools of technique, such as the Russian, will teach you to do this hoping that carrezando will magically appear but shortcuts often come at a cost. If not pain, ignorance of the mechanics. 

It is erroneously thought that the carrezando technique will give you great speed and a very light pearly touch. Again, that is the end result feeling of a proper technique. Don’t ever seek it, it will find you if your technique is proper.

First, you have to find a good teacher. If you want to find a good teacher, don’t listen to them play, listen to their students. If 90% of them play the way you want to play, you found the right teacher. Hopefully that teacher provides student recital opportunities for you to go hear several at a time. Otherwise, go to any of those ubiquitous Chopin competitions and ask the good students whom they take lessons from. CAREFUL the student isn’t a virtuoso whom the teacher is just guiding.

*I* have a virtuoso student but it is nothing I did. The kid just plays correctly naturally and i keep out of his way.

Answer requested for Malcolm Kogut

How long does it take a pianist to retrain muscle memory to play a new motion?

This is a wonderful question. There is no such thing, literally, as muscle memory. Movement is hardwired into the brain, not the muscles.

New muscle memory movement is very easy to wire into the brain and it can be immediate however, the brain never forgets the old patterns so, as a musician, if you get nervous or your body is cold, or you go into autopilot, it is very easy for the old movements to reassert themselves and take over despite new and more efficient neural pathways having been created since. This is especially true for musicians and also, how and what we play is very important.  This is why musicians often claim they can play perfectly in their living room but on stage it all falls apart. What is happening is the old muscle memory takes over because of environmental factors such as the presence of an audience, different bench height, temperature, nerves, etcetera. 

There is another danger here. Many teachers instruct the student to build strength and endurance to overcome technical deficiencies. This works to a certain extent but also puts the musician on the path to injury. If the musician then learns new and proper movements, the improper muscles used previously will immediately atrophy. This is why improperly trained musicians feel rusty or stiff after missing a few days of practice because the wrongly built muscles will get weak, quickly. Proper playing utilizes fulcrums, alignment, gravity, ergonomics and the laws of physics, not muscle. This is counter intuitive to most musicians and to many teachers who are ignorant of anatomy and physics. Mediocrity is the result of using the wrong muscles, not lack of talent. This is because most teachers have no idea what they are doing. They only know what they know but what they don’t know is what creates injury, tension, fatigue and sloppy playing.

A beginning student may learn a piece of music and there may be flaws in his movement. Over time he gets better and learns new songs and rewires some of the improper movements in his brain. He progresses further and his technique improves and his brain learns newer and even more proper movement. THE DANGER is playing old repertoire because even though his technique improves and he now has proper movements, the brain remembers the lesser or improper movements of previous repertoire from a time when he moved less properly. It is important for musicians to either never play old repertoire or, re-learn each piece with the newer, more proper motions.

The greatest danger is, as I previously said, the improper muscles atrophy if not used. If a musician built improper muscles to play a piece well, then as he progresses and loses that muscle because it is no longer needed since he is more ergonomic now, then he plays that old repertoire, the brain expects that the former muscle is there and tries to play the work “normally.” Since the muscle is no longer present, this is when the musician runs the risk of greatly injuring themselves. This is why a well trained musician can one day, out of nowhere, injure themselves.  Most injuries are actually cumulative and it is one of those "muscle memory" moments that serves as the proverbial "straw that breaks the camel's back."

In addition, rewiring your brain on your instrument isn’t sufficient. You must simultaneously do the same with how you ring a doorbell, tie your shoes, brush your teeth, pick up a piece of paper, type, swipe, wipe . . .

There is no such thing as repetitive strain, only improper movement.  If you move improperly, all movement can become repetitive strain and as I said, it is cumulative.  That is why a forty year old might get out of bed with stiffness, aches and pains while a 70 who has moved properly all their lives can rise with elan and alacrity.  You can take that to the movement bank.

Halloween Organ Concert Ideas

I am often asked for repertoire ideas for Halloween Organ Recitals.  It is not that difficult.  Take any melody in a minor key, play it with a four foot flute in your right hand, maybe with a mutation, and with your left hand, do a slow palm glissando on both black and white keys with strings or softer flutes. Here are several songs I have played in the past:

Postlude Sollenele
https://youtu.be/aI2C6HZ2Khs
http://youtu.be/zDB6DmhE2LM

Night on Bald Mountain
(gasp, I can't find my vid)

Toccata and Fugue in D minor
http://youtu.be/TkjF2Vtzwjs

Chopin Prelude
http://youtu.be/WQlLgkAIkiI

Moonlight Sonata
http://youtu.be/dGxp_VYoMt8

Chopin Mazurka
http://youtu.be/lRIB7smyod8

Little Prelude and Fugue in G minor
https://youtu.be/r63p3WpF2UU

Addams Family
http://youtu.be/218Mw7kWI_g

The Munsters
(gasp, I can't find my vid)

London Bridge (because there are human sacrifices in each pillar - orphans)
https://youtu.be/8boxn3xvspw

Itsy Bitsy Spider
https://youtu.be/dbmLEB-3Bgg

Hall Of The Mountain King
http://youtu.be/hPYvKmGpY7c

Boellemann Toccata
https://youtu.be/qBhTWO4uhfg

The Lost Chord
https://youtu.be/L8u1BiruUaA

Flight of the Bumblebee
https://youtu.be/rzw1j0fEXoQ

March of the Marrionettes
http://youtu.be/2NgT1QMBIyo

Couperin Fugue
http://youtu.be/CKn73dPoCns

O Fortuna/Phantom of the Opera
https://youtu.be/yoV-CLYg10E

Variations on a Recitative Schoenberg
(gasp, I can't find my vid)

Ring Around the Rosie (about the plague)
https://youtu.be/Q4rgPlnQQgE

Organ Concert; Flight of the Bumblebee

Free organ concert with Malcolm Kogut at Foothills Methodist in Gloversville.  June 3 at three. Free.  Here is a sample (Flight of the Bumblebee):

Point Of Sound

One of the causes for strain, stress, injury and other maladies pianists, organists and typists experience is simply that they press too hard into the keybed of their device or instrument. Let's first take a look at sports and then physics (that HS subject you think you don't use in real life). 

As a baseball player stands at home plate and the ball is hurtling toward him, he back-swings, forward swings, hits the ball, then all the energy left over from the swing dissipates into the follow through.  The same action occurs when an athlete swings a tennis racquet, kicks a ball, swings a golf club, punches someone, throws a ball, etcetera.  That is Newton's third law of physics that every action has an equal and opposite action.  In order to forward swing, one must first back swing.  Even when we walk forward, as one leg is extending up and forward, the other leg is pushing backward.  So according to the laws of physics, in order to type or play the piano down, one must first lift up.  Many of us were trained or taught to play or type from a resting and relaxed position which actually creates tension because holding a position requires effort.  So we know that everything requires an opposite motion and a follow through.  I bet all you smart kids out there know exactly where I'm going with this.

Now imagine that our baseball, tennis, soccer, golf, football players or boxers are standing before a concrete wall and they backswing then forward swing but instead of hitting an object and following through, they strike the immovable wall.  All the energy of the swing, instead of following through and dissipating, ricochets back into the athlete.  That can hurt. 

A piano is much the same.  Many pianists press into the keybed of a piano and not only does that fail to produce any more of a tone but, all the energy of pressing down is being transferred back up into their finger joints and tendons.  We often don't notice this until after an hour or so of practice or the next morning when we wake up with stiff fingers.  We are taught by bad teachers "no pain, no gain."  In this case, it is very much a lie.  No pain, no gain is fine when building muscle but not for bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and certainly not for our technique.  Often poor technique, strain or missed notes are a result of what we are not doing rather than what we are doing and often we are using the wrong muscles.

Sit at any acoustic piano and very slowly, depress a key so you don't play a sound.  At some point you will hit a little bump in the action, then press through it and you will hit the keybed.  That little bump is the point of sound once you actually play. 

As a pianist drops the controlled weight of their arm onto a key, they must use Newton's third law.  As they hit the point of sound, much like an athlete striking a ball, they must then follow through without hitting the keybed.  When they press into the keybed, not only is their energy backfiring but, they are pressing down and according to Newton, we can't set up for the up motion if we are pressing down.  This hinders technique.  You can't play down if you don't play up and you can't play up if you are pressing down.

So, the key and cure to playing without tension or pain is learning to play to the point of sound and simply following through and not pressing into the keybed.  Unbeknownst to most teachers, their students press into the keybed.  It is a motion that is often invisible.  When a student experiences problems with technique or pain, the teacher often says practice more or run exercises to build strength and endurance and the teacher is often oblivious that the way the student practices is what needs to be addressed, not a clock.

Danger Will Robinson. Before anyone tries to learn to play to the point of sound, there are other components of technique which must first be in place.  This includes controlling arm weight, controlling up/down, controlling in/out from the shoulder and elbow, using the fulcrum of the elbow, controlling rotation of the forearm through the use of the pronator and supinator muscles.  Likewise, there are movements to avoid such as abduction, curling the thumb under the palm, isolating a finger, equalizing fingers, radial and ulnar deviation, and trying to play too relaxed, still and quiet.

A virtuoso technique looks like it is effortless and relaxed.  That is true, the fingers are relaxed because the arm does all the work.  Observers are often looking at the pianist's hands and fail to notice the elbow and arm is actually doing most of the work.  Pianists who attempt to play from the fingers and have fatigue, are told to relax so, they relax the same muscles they are continuing to use and they achieve nothing.

Once all of the proper motions are achieved and the improper ones eradicated, point of sound will just happen. Some "techniques" such as the Russian Technique, surreptitiously imbue the pianist with these movements but personally, I would rather learn the physics and ergonomics of movement rather than being tricked through mindless imitation.  Although, it works to some degree. Where it fails is when a pianist encounters a passage they can't execute and if they knew the mechanics of the arm, would be able to figure out what sort of adjustment is required to play that passage.

I once studied with a leading concert pianist in my area who didn't know what he was doing but had a phenomenal natural technique.  His instruction to me was to watch him play then imitate his motion.  That would have been fine but I already had bad habits hardwired into my brain which were getting in the way.  Since he didn't know anything about ergonomics nor physics, he had no idea how to fix me other than prescribing "practice more."

I once gave a lecture on this topic and a pianist disagreed with me about Newtons third law citing that the piano is down, not up.  The finger must come straight down onto a key.  If the pianist is playing with a "still and quiet hand" and they must also play black keys,   note that the black keys are higher than the white keys.  This results in the still and quiet pianist to stretch or twist to reach those keys which in turn create vector forces or, two muscles pulling one bone in two directions simultaneously.  This creates tremendous imbalance in the arm which controls the hand and fingers and this leads to an incoordinate technique.  Keep in mind your fingers have no muscles.  They are moved by the flexor muscles in your forearm so that is where the pianist must first play from. 

If you were to walk up stairs, your ascending leg would lift HIGHER than the next stair, then come straight down onto it.  If you tried to walk upstairs without lifting your foot higher than the step, you'd trip.  Playing the piano is the same.  We must use the larger muscles of the arm to get the fingers higher than the notes we are desirous to play.  Of course as we become more efficient, we minimize the height but make no mistake, although it may appear invisible, it is still there. Hanon knew this and prescribed the pianist to isolate one finger and lift it high but, this isolation engages the flexors and extensors at the same time resulting in strain to the long flexor tendons which leads to median nerve entrapment (AKA carpal tunnel syndrome). Remember the arm, hand and fingers can only move in one direction at a time.  By abducting, for instance, the hand gets pulled in two or four directions despite the pianist trying to play a passage in a specific direction.

I have no conclusion to this post other than don't try this at home.  Find a teacher who knows what a pronator and abductor is and work from there.

Halloween Organ Recital

Join the Foothills Methodist Church, 17 Fremont St. in Gloversville on Sunday, October 30, at 3:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary for an exciting Halloween organ recital featuring a smorgasbord of classics, favorites and surprises. Malcolm Kogut will perform pieces such as the vivid and bristling with energy Dubois Toccata and the ubiquitous Toccata in D Minor by J. S. Bach.  Other music will include Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Boellmann's famous suite Toccata, and  "In the Garden." The organ recital is free and open to the public.

Halloween Organ Recital

Join the Foothills Methodist Church in Gloversville on Sunday, October 30, at 3:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary for an exciting organ recital featuring a smorgasbord of classics, favorites and surprises. Malcolm Kogut will perform pieces such as the vivid and bristling with energy Dubois Toccata to the ubiquitous Toccata in D Minor by J. S. Bach.  Other music will include Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Boellmann's famous Suite Gothic Toccata, and the tear jerking "In the Garden." The organ recital is free and open to the public.  For a sample medley of the recital, point your browsers to Youtube, here: 

-----------------
One thing Malcolm Kogut loves about living in New England is the endless number of mountain trails there is to explore. Malcolm loves challenging himself and friends to explore a new trail together and he enjoys both the defiance of and going with gravity.  His favorite hikes over the years have been St. Regis near Saranac Lake, Mt. Baker in Washington state and Ice Caves Mountain in Ellenville, NY. Hiking is one of the best ways to get fit and explore nature at the same time.  Malcolm's commitment to hiking is especially important to keeping up his musical pursuits for, hiking gives him something to play about.  After all, nobody lies on their deathbed wishing they worked more.

Make Recitals Great Again

From my "Make Recitals Great Again" recital. It was 95 degrees outside and I don't know what the temperature was inside the church under those 500 watt flood lights but this was the stickiest, sweatiest and most difficult recitals I have ever played.  My fingers were so sweaty that they were sliding off the keys.

This has always been a difficult organ to record because the swell and solo divisions are located in a chamber on the other side of the chancel, the great is located right behind my head and the choir division is installed up in the balcony and consequently often sounds out of sync.  For this recital I placed the recorder in the middle of the church amongst the people and that seems to have equalized it.

Other Pieces from this Recital:

Fugue in G Major, Bach
Allegro From Concerto II, Bach
Princess Leia's Theme from Star Wars
Carillon De Westminster by Vierne
Fanfare by Malcolm Kogut
Prelude in C Major, Bach
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Toccata on "Duke Street"
Once In Love With Amy
Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter
Trumpet Tune by Marsh
Eternal Father, Strong To Save
20th Century Fox Fanfare
A movement from Jupiter; Bringer of Jollity by Holst From The Planets
Dialog

Malcolm Kogut

Sheet Music for "The Heavens Declare"

Here is a copy of the sheet music for "The Heavens Declare; Psalm 19" by Benedetto Marcello.  It is scored for trumpet and organ.

 

 

https://mega.nz/#!IVcyCLiD!eObT5RbQUj7b8FWIrzn3iBOT3lnFbuy0CVE5_mhPqlI

 

 

 

I have been sober for 45 minutes

 Q:  What? 
A:  Two organ recitals. 

Q:  Boring! 
A:  I mean, no, not like that stuff you hear in church on Sunday. Sunday organ can be very boring but this recital, it's big, like, like really big, like OJ did it big.  You gotta come.

Q:  We have guitars and a band in my church. 
A:  The organ has a noble estate in church music.  It is a sustaining and strengthening instrument designed for congregational singing. Consider other instruments such as guitars, piano or percussion. Once you play a sound on any of these instruments the sound immediately begins to decay, necessitating more fills and chords.  But singing doesn’t work this way.  The organ’s sound lifts and sustains the voice of the congregation through each phrase, guiding each breath, and setting the character of the song through its wide range of voices.  The organ fills a room naturally making it possible to fill any space. An amplified band gives you a directional, electronic copy of the instruments while the pipe organ needs no amplification; Give it a chance.  You may go back to your guitars on Sunday.

Q:  Tell me about the two organs. 
A:  Trinity's organ is a relatively new three manual tracker which means it is very challenging to play for many organists who are trained but still don't know what they are doing ergonomically.  After the recital, feel free to go up and touch the keys.  Malcolm will be giving a talk about the ten ergonomic movements required to properly and effortlessly play a tracker and, how to avoid and cure tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome through natural movement.  The talk will begin around 2:30 but make a reservation so he can prepare materials.  The Foothill organ is an electronic four manual Rodgers with speakers placed around the room for the ultimate in surround sound.

Q:  Is there a Malcolm Kogut action figure? 
A:  We would think so.

Q:  Is Malcolm Kogut still alive? 
A:  Yes, as far as we know.  We don't have any current information about his health.  However, being older than 40, we hope that everything is okay.

Q:  Where was Malcolm Kogut born? 
A:  On a hill, far away in Troy, NY

Q:  What is Malcolm Kogut doing now? 
A:  Supposedly, 2016 has been a busy year for him.  However, we do not have any detailed information on what he is doing these days.  Maybe you know more.  Feel free to share the latest news, gossip and official contact information with the person next to you.

Q:  Are there any photos of Malcolm's current hairstyle or shirtless?
A:  There might be.  But unfortunately we currently cannot print them here.  We are working hard to fill that gap though.  Check back tomorrow or Google it.

Q:  Where are these recital things? 
A:  THERE ARE TWO; The first is on April 10, at Trinity Lutheran Church at 42 Guy Park Ave, Amsterdam, NY 12010. The theme here will be "Old Friends."  It will be somewhat selfish on Malcolm's part in that all the pieces will be pieces that he likes to play, has played many times and they fit like a glove.  Not like the OJ glove but, bigger.

The second is on May 22 at Foothills Methodist Church at 17 Fremont St, Gloversville, NY 12078. This recital will consist of patriotic music.  The final number is guaranteed elicit a standing ovation from the audience.  Both recitals are at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Q:  Cost? 
A:  They're freeeeeeee! (my Harvy Levin impersonation).

Bio:
A letter from Malcolm Paul to the internet; I am very pleased and excited to be performing these recitals on April 10 and May 22, at three, and I Tertius, who wrote this letter, am pleased to be going, also.  Malcolm has been playing the organ since he was 15 and by simple calculations, that makes him OLD which is often fatal and highly contagious; To be more precise (and nerdy), his current age as of right now is 19742 days or (even more geeky) 473804 hours. Malcolm was born on the 16th of January which was a Tuesday meaning he was conceived between April 21 - April 29.  His next birthday is only 245 days from today.  BTW, at both recitals, I hear there will be cake. 
   
Sample links of each organ (Stars and Stripes):
Foothills Organ: http://youtu.be/MGbI3gHmnKs
Trinity Organ: https://youtu.be/yJQRQaEeNLc

Becoming a Better Singer

Ugh, I went to an organ recital recently and the organist, though technically proficient, was devoid of energy, interpretation, originality or excitement.  No wonder today's youth are not taking up the organ as an instrument because they have to listen to people like that in their churches every Sunday.  What a turn off.  In many of our churches on Sunday, the organ is like a sports car, backed out of the garage for one hour each week and only to the end of the driveway then back into the garage.

When I work with singers either in the church, workshop or theater venue, I often share one of several simple videos with them.  We first watch the video with the sound off.  Then we watch it a second time but this time I tell a story based upon the facial expressions and movement of the singer.  Then the singers each take a turn doing the same.  I then tell them the story of the song and we watch it one final time with the sound still off.  Finally, we watch it with the sound on.  Listeners often hear the notes and not the words because singers, like organists, put more effort into the notes rather than communicating.

This exercise not only makes the singers aware of their expressions, movement and inflection, but it also makes them cognizant of the importance of words and story telling.  All too often singers are mired down with technique, notes and style rather than simple communication.  This applies not only to theater performers but church musicians often fall down into that hole, too.  I'm not saying they need to employ theatrics into their delivery of the Psalms and holy scripture, just become better communicators of it through basic facial expression, making eye contact and most importantly - BEING PREPARED.   If you have to look at the page more than 20% of the time, you're not prepared to interpret.

I'll say no more on the topic.  You can use any video you like but one of my favorites to start with is Betty Buckley's interpretation of the song "Meadowlark." The first video with commentary but, without sound can be found here:
https://youtu.be/NaLch5-ItPg

Here is the original video with sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqI6-Lrvi68

So, all you singers, story tellers, poets and organists, "SING . . . " for me.

Healing from Repetitive Stress Injuries Naturally

Healing from Repetitive Stress Injuries Naturally

The original video was an hour long so I made copious cuts to shorten it.  Unfortunately, the many cuts caused an audio sync issue.  Deal with it.  Close your eyes, don't watch my lips. 

Organ Technique

This is a video of a series of classes I gave on organ technique.

Halloween Organ Recital Q&A

When?  Before everyone else, on October 18th, 3:00 p.m.  2015

Where?  Trinity Lutheran Church, 42 Guy Park Ave, Amsterdam, NY 12010 (the United States one, not the other one where pot is legal).

Is there a Cost?  Only my blood, sweat and tears.  All others, free.

Will there be refreshments?  I wouldn't play otherwise.

Is the church handicap accessible?  Yes, there is a spacious elevator located on the parking lot side entrance. If need be, I will carry you up the stairs (I've done it before). Watch the end of the demo video, I show you how to find it.

What kind of organ are you playing?  It is a newly installed three manual tracker, built by a local builder. There will be a dedicatory recital in the upcoming months.  Come to find out when and all the other pertinent deets.

I hate organ recitals, they are boring, arcane, esoteric, stuffy, recondite and they all sound alike.  What are you playing?  I hate organ recitals, too.  I will be playing the ubiquitous, standard "scary" organ music such as the Chopin Funeral March, Bach's (sic) Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Boëllmann's Toccata  plus a few novelty songs and pieces arranged by me.

The organ is currently lounging in it's summer tuning estate but, here is a demo video of me at my first practice session getting to know the instrument and finding my arm weight. Here I demonstrate the en chamade and the full organ (which distorted my camera's microphone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lldWqEhIkbs

See you then.

-Malcolm (The pastor wants a bio) Insert pretentious crap about myself here)).

Malcolm, a true Capricorn, is actually not funny. He is just really mean and people think he is joking.  He is a lover of ice cream and a runner - because of all the ice cream.  Malcolm is a Nomad in search for the perfect burger and is an especially gifted napper with killer abs (want proof, check out "Mount Baker Glacier Clips."  Do not judge him before you know him, but just to inform you, you won't like him.  He is not on Facebook and most likely wouldn't friend you anyway so this is all you are ever going to get.  Malcolm feels sad for seedless watermelons because, what if they wanted babies?  The humanity.

A Peek Under The Hood Of Modes

Modes are ancient scales of the church which are still used today by jazz musicians.  You can also hear modal music in many of today's film scores and in some churches who still value their rich musical heritage.  Film composer John Williams composes many of his movie themes in modes.  One of the first jazz musicians to come to mind when I think of modes is Chick Corea.  Most jazz musicians are actually drawn to these classical scales because they are very rich in melodic and harmonic possibilities.  The church, in an effort to dumb down for the common person is actually dumbing down the common person.  If you can find a church offering a Tridentine Mass, most likely you will hear a lot of modal music.  As much as I love contemporary Christian music, it is very much trapped in the Ionian Mode (major scale) and doesn't give a sense of the sacred as many other modes do. When I attend other churches, I usually leave feeling numb from the "white bread" music and musicians.

This video is a simple example of how one may explore the modes as an improvisational tool.  One does not need to explore the modes for only jazz styles, but they are a great tool and inspiration for writing melody and fleshing out rich harmony.

For further listening:
Theme from the movie ET, Jurasic Park, The Simpsons

Better Late Than Never; Halloween Organ Recital

Do you think organ recitals are long and boring or that organists can be uninspired, uncreative, they play safe or all sound alike?  Are you afraid the music will be stuffy, long haired, or worse - like Sunday church organ music?

Then you should come to this one which I promise will be unique, fun, engaging and filled with surprises.  Come experience "The Scary and Fugal Side of Nursery Rhymes" May 3, 3:00 p.m. at the Foothills United Methodist Church on 17 Fremont Street, Gloversville, 12078.  The price is freeeeeeeee!  So that you won't suffer from organ indigestion, in addition to the organ solos there will be guest singers, singing bowls and instrumentalists.


Here are two samples of what I will be playing (the second half of each video BTW, is of Len Anderson who took my collection of arrangements and improvisations then rearranged each piece for his saxophone quintet):
http://youtu.be/0GMUG7Wr5RA                BINGO in Fugue
http://youtu.be/h-ZWaiXVnLY                     Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Did you know that there are dozens of diseases a human can catch from a lamb?  There are orphan children buried alive in the pillars of the London Bridge?  Ring Around the Rosie is about the plague? The original lyrics to "Ten Little Indians (which is still not politically correct)"  was also racially offensive?  Come discover what other creepy, rapey and phobic topics our joyous childhood songs are really about.

The church is handicap accessible with an elevator but it is squirreled away in a closet.  Here is a short video tour showing where the elevator is hidden within the building:
http://youtu.be/qXO5NFGKo9c

-Malcolm.
After watching his parents murdered by a mugger in a back alley, Malcolm Kogut grew up vowing to become the world's greatest crime . . . wait, that's Batman.  Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Mr. Kogut stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator . . . no, that was Sam Beckett.   After being bitten by a radioactive spid . . . uhm, Malcolm suffers from nefelibata.  Truth.

Simple Improvisational Device for Organists

Here is a short lesson I created for church organists who on occasion may be desirous to employ a simple re-harmonization device without getting too carried away.  I apologize for the little rant in the beginning of the video about organists getting in the way of the congregation.  I too am a frequent offender of this practice.  It is part of the organist ego.  The devil makes us do it.  Bach's congregation had the same plaint.

This device is simple.  Whenever the melody is on the third tone of a chord, or you change the chord to make that note the third, leave the melody where it is but raise the chord up half a step to it's minor equivalent, then drop it down to its dominant seventh.  Keep the voicing open as that will leave a lot of room for inner linear movement and a lot of room other chordal substitutions and leading.  If you don't know what that means, that is okay, listen to your ear. It knows.

I often throw something like this in toward the the end of a verse to signal to the congregation that I am about to do something such as a key change or interlude.  I usually only throw in interludes when the liturgical movement calls for it because the people on the dais need more time to get where they're going or to do what they're doing.  If a choir is processing and they just hit the stairs to the balcony, I may do the same thing. 

Personally, if I am pew-side of a church, I like to sing the harmony to the hymns and when the organist doesn't play what's on the page it renders me mute.  Organists need to be cognizant of the text, too.  I remember being at a music convention for Pastoral Musicians and on the fifth verse of a hymn, the text stated something about not toiling or mourning for, the gentle presence of God will carry you through the tough times.  I thought it ironic that the organist was re-harmonizing, ratcheting up the crescendo pedal and tossing out trite-trumpet-triplets all as we were singing words such as "quiet" and "gentle."

Read your texts, love your people, help them to sing, hold their hand if necessary.  Think of the church in the theater model; the congregants are the actors, God is the audience and you are the prompter.  Prompt, don't hijack.

The Funeral Organist

Some funerals are joyful celebrations of life while others can be like - funerals.  Organists are the greatest offenders of the latter.

New organists often ask what kind of music to play for funerals.  All too often they think they have to play slow, soft and with lots of whole notes.  I hate hearing the organ played that way for any occasion but especially at funerals.  Having grown up in a 19 room house where my parents operated a rest home for elderly woman, I experienced a lot of death but mostly the love of life. 

I doubt any of us would want flat, boring, sad, subdued and dirge-like funerals upon our passing.  I suspect many organists play this way because they are too afraid to sound any other way because they think that is how funerals are supposed to sound and the books out there currently offer nothing but dirges. 

For the prelude, or gathering period, I would mostly improvise so that I could keep an eye on the pastor and watch what everyone else is doing and I could quickly respond to assembly dynamics as they were gathering.  My music was always joyful, often fast but light in registration.

In my previous parish I was also charged with the task of meeting with the family of the deceased  to help them choose readings and music.  I would also meet with those who were asked to do readings to instruct them, give them copies to practice and explain what was going to happen.  I would ask the family if they wanted the mood of the service to be subdued or a joyful celebration of life and they always chose the later.   It didn't hurt to have a pastor whose funeral homily was consistently about death being a birth into new life.

During the funeral, since the console was only about 15 feet from the front pew, the family always looked to me for cues and when I played something with a joie de vivre, they would look at me and smile.  During the Communion procession they would pass by my bench and most of the time, touch me on the shoulder or whisper a thank you.

Here are examples of how I would play both slow and fast.  Again, nothing from books - so that I could be in the moment:
http://youtu.be/VhhO6DAe2A0
http://youtu.be/QN40wHW6s2g    (actually a little bit slower but with the same gist)

For the Offertory (Preparation of the Gifts) or Communion, if we were not singing a song or hymn, I would play like that.  There are dozens of books out there with music intended for funerals but anything from classical or contemporary literature works well.  They don't have to have slow and quiet.  As I mentioned earlier, if the organists improvises, they can be in the moment and respond musically and dynamically to mood of the room.  In many cases, can even influence the mood in the room.  A skilled and cognizant organist can even control the talking and even volume of the assembly's discourse. 

Have you noticed that at a lot of funerals people will use humor about the deceased to help them get through the pain?  Music can serve in that capacity, too.  Not by playing "funny," but by playing joyfully, excitement, varied dynamics and registration changes. 

Funerals are for the living.  Here is a little story for the organist who is too afraid to play with joyful expectation because they thing funerals should be soft and slow:
God said to his people,
"Step toward the edge."
and the people replied,
"No, it is too high."
God repeated his command,
"Step toward the edge."
and the people replied,
"No, we are afraid."
God then said,
"Do not be afraid.  Step toward the edge."
So the people stepped toward the edge,
. . . and God pushed them.
. . . and they flew.

Close the book.  Step toward the edge.

-Malcolm.

Nursery Rhymes for Organ

I have arranged a collection of Nursery Rhymes for the organ and am selling the book on MusicNeo.com.  These pieces make excellent encores for the traditional "long haired" organ recital as they are easy, short, quickly recognizable by the audience and different.  The sheet music for the complete collection in one PDF file can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/o34oz72

To hear samples, check these out:

Did You Ever See A Lassie
http://youtu.be/sTbiPJi9oTE

Old MacDonald
http://youtu.be/h-ZWaiXVnLY

This Old Man
http://youtu.be/TJq1JaKduEM

Mary Had A Little Lamb
http://youtu.be/MKFKZS2GYH8

Pop Goes The Weasel
http://youtu.be/eWcOzgCbVeU

Ten Little Indians
http://youtu.be/8nRH9W_ezgE

London Bridge
http://youtu.be/2__tFaVlAXY

BINGO
http://youtu.be/0GMUG7Wr5RA

Fughetta on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
http://youtu.be/0O7kzclRpZI

Fughetta on “Itsy Bitsy Spider”
http://youtu.be/VAzbk7fzibs