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Master Class: Prelude-Be Still, My Soul (Finlandia)

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John Murdoch

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Master Class: Prelude-Be Still, My Soul (Finlandia)

PostTue Jun 07, 2011 10:53 am

This thread demonstrates a proposal mentioned in the "Amateur Section" thread in this forum--why not post files to Contrebombarde, and ask for commentary and helpful criticism here?
In this thread I link to the piece, describe the context (which should help you in understanding where I am on my musical journey, and how you can help me get there), and ask for your guidance.


Prelude - "Be Still, My Soul" (Finlandia)
I have posted a small file to Contrebombarde Concert Hall, with a short prelude based on "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius:

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5259

Who, what, where, when, how, and why:
Sibelius's classic tune has great national import for Finland--but is known to most people as the tune to "Be Still, My Soul" (lyrics by Katherine von Schlegel, 1752). This prelude reflects those words--a hymn of grief, of death, of parting; ending with the words "when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed, we shall meet at last."

(Were I playing this at home for a family of friends who are Finns, I'd approach the tune entirely differently.)

I arranged this to use as a prelude before Sunday morning worship at my church. It fits a distinct place--I play 7-8 minutes of music before the start of worship; that's typically two hymns (three verse apiece), and a prelude. The service begins with a welcome from a deacon, and announcements--I have "trained" the deacons to listen for single voices, particularly single flute voices, to aurally distinguish the prelude from the earlier hymns. So the ending of this piece fits the words of the hymn--and effectively cues the deacon du jour to begin the service.

In this piece I am working on a number of things: phrasing, pace, expression, and registration.

Phrasing:
This is new, and I find it hard. It's hard to judge how much to allow--how to make a distinction, without leaving an obvious gap.

Pace:
This piece has obvious phrases--and some phrases need to be played a wee bit faster, others held just a mite. The piece starts with a single voice, at a slower pace--it picks up a bit in the middle, but ends with a single, slow, stately voice. Does it work? Does it work well? Too fast, too slow, an obvious gimmick?

Expression:
Surprise, surprise! That little pedal on the left opens and closes the Swell box. (I'm very new to organs.) I want the piece to start quietly, on the Swell (about half-open); increase it a bit on the second phrase; and open it completely at the start of the second verse.

In the third verse I adjust the expression a bit differently--I start the third verse with the tenor line on the Great staff, and the bass line on the Pedal. But at the middle I change--I keep the soprano and alto voices on the Great, but move the tenor and bass voices to the Swell. I then back off the Swell (close the box) one notch before ending those voices a few bars later.

Does that work?

Registration:
I intended that the second verse be the "big" section--I was surprised, when I looked at the WAV file output in Audacity, to see that the first half of the third verse was louder. I know why--I changed from the Octave 4' to the Bass Flute 8' in the Pedal between the 2nd and 3rd verses. But it surprised me--is that change wise? Does the 8' flute overwhelm the third verse? I like the "chiffy" tone of that pipe--I'd meant it to reflect the menace and the hope of the final verse (the point of that last verse is that we're going to die someday, too).

Overall--does it work?

I'd very much appreciate your thoughts and comments.

(Oh--if anyone would like, I can provide the MIDI files, the Sibelius score, or PDFs of the score, if it would help.)
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cdekter

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Re: Master Class: Prelude-Be Still, My Soul (Finlandia)

PostTue Jun 07, 2011 6:25 pm

I think overall it sounds good and works well. This may not be appropriate to your particular setting, but in general I think this piece works well with plenty of rubato to define the shape of each verse. It's very romantic writing and it benefits from stretching the tempo as well as plenty of tenuto in appropriate places.

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