Organ and Choir Tutorial - Evening Hymn by H. Balfour Gardiner
Вставка
- Опубліковано 27 тра 2022
- The splendid Evening Hymn is arguably the best-known, and best, piece written by Henry Balfour Gardiner. Such is the quality of this stirring anthem that it seems a pity we don’t have much else of note by Balfour Gardiner for church choirs to feast upon.
Reportedly he was one of those composers that was very hard on his own music, and possibly destroyed quite a lot of it, giving up composing later in life. Such composers often only bequeath to us tantalising “gems”, leaving us to wonder what their second best was like.
Ralph Allwood, rehearsing the choir in this video, clearly loves the piece, extolling its rich harmonies and masterful organ accompaniment. The composer cleverly builds tension in the organ introduction, using harmony that evolves slowly over a pedal note in the bass, with added sixths, sevenths, and so forth. “It’s very, very clever indeed!” suggests Ralph to the choir.
In discussion with Mark Shepherd during the rehearsal, Ralph asks how the organist is to achieve a seamless build-up during the introduction. Mark explains that this is usually done with a combination of pistons and the swell pedal. Generally, when you add to the swell, the box needs to be closed rapidly and then opened again slowly. The great can be increased when the box is fully open again, the bump hopefully masked by the louder swell.
Read more and watch the video here: viscountorgans.net/evening-hy...
About this Organ Tutorial Series:
One of an organist’s most subtle and sensitive roles is in the accompaniment of psalms and church anthems. In such an accompanying role, one’s job is rarely to stand out as a performer but to create an underlying musical foundation on which the choir’s singing can build.
For this year’s offering, then, we present a series in which the renowned choir director Ralph Allwood teaches the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir about psalm singing, with three lovely anthems thrown in to the bargain.
They’re accompanied ably by Mark Shepherd on the Viscount Regent 356 organ. You’ll hear Mark exercising all his artistic powers in support of the choir.
Crucially we don’t just show you a performance, but take you through the rehearsal process, during which Ralph explains the pieces, discusses word painting with the choir and organist, and leads everyone towards a good final performance.
For more information about this Organ Tutorial Series and more videos visit our website: viscountorgans.net/organ-tuto...
Find out more about this tutorial and others in the series:
Ralph Allwood is a experienced choral conducter. Love his scholarly approach in explaining how the piece works etc and his advice to the organist Mark Shepherd on organ registration.
Glorious. Just stunning. Thank you. My soul needed this.
I enjoyed watching this. A good conductor, a good organist, of course angelic voices, that all you need for music to move you. I will watch it again!
Thank you for this. Beautiful
ᑭяỖｍｏ𝓼𝐦 💖