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Interpretive Suggestions for Four American Organ Works, Part 2

March 18, 2003
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Background

William Albright, born in Gary, Indiana in 1944, attended the Juilliard Preparatory Department, the University of Michigan, and the Paris Conservatory. He studied composition with Ross Lee Finney, Olivier Messiaen, and George Rochberg; organ study was with Marilyn Mason at the University of Michigan, where he joined the faculty in 1970. At present, he is professor of music composition and associate director of the electronic music studio.50

Albright's compositions include works for organ, piano, harpsichord, chamber orchestra, theater, and chorus. As a performing organist, he champions late twentieth-century organ repertoire, including his own compositions and those of other composers. A 1972 article in The Diapason reviewed an organ recital in which Albright performed his own Organbook I and Organbook II, and works of William Bolcom and Charles Ives:

The American Guild of Organists has never been known for its adventurousness. Cautious and conservative, the guild is comprised of organists and choirmasters who are more concerned with service playing and church music, than with the avant-garde. Thus it was uncharacteristic but admirable that the local AGO chapter last night presented the Cleveland debut of William Albright, leading young composer-performer of radical new organ music.51

Albright's improvisatory style of writing has tongue-in-cheek humor, lively rhythm, and inventive registrations. Albright was named 1993 Composer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists, which published articles on his organ compositions in its journal throughout 1993.52

Albright's organ works are Chorale-Partita in an Old Style on "Wer nur" for organ solo (1963), Juba for organ solo (1965), Pneuma for organ solo (1966), Organbook I for organ solo (1967), Organbook II for organ and tape (1971), Stipendium peccati for organ, piano, and percussion (1973), Gothic Suite for organ, strings, and percussion (1973), Dream and Dance for organ and percussion (1974), Sweet Sixteenths: Concert Rag for organ solo (1975-76), Jericho: Battle Music for organ and trumpet (1976), Organbook III for organ solo (1977-78), The King of Instruments for organ and narration (1978), Halo for organ and metal instruments (1980), De spiritum for organ and two assistants (1980-81), Bacchanal for organ and orchestra (1981), That Sinking Feeling for organ solo (1982), David's Songs for organ and mixed choir or SATB solo voices (1982), Enigma Syncopations for organ, flute, and percussion (1982), Romance for French horn and organ (1982), David's Songs for organ and antiphonal choirs (1982), In memoriam for organ solo (1983), 1732: In memoriam Johannes Albrecht for organ solo and optional narration (1984), Carillon-Bombarde for organ solo (1985), Chasm for organ and optional "echo instrument" or tape (1985), Symphony for Organ for organ and percussion (1986), Deum de Deo for organ and mixed choir (1989), Valley of Fire for organ and saxophone quartet (1989), Whistler Nocturnes for organ solo (1989), and Flights of Fancy: Ballet for organ (1992). Albright's latest work, Flights of Fancy: Ballet for organ has eight movements; it was commissioned by the 1992 AGO National Convention in Atlanta.53

The work selected for this article is 1732: In memoriam Johannes Albrecht.54 Robert Anderson, professor of organ at Southern Methodist University, commissioned the work and played the premiere, which was at the St. Nikolai Church in Leipzig, Germany, during the Church Music Festival Bach Tercentenary in 1985. An Evening Dance, the last movement of 1732, was published separately in The AGO 90th-Anniversary Anthology of American Organ Music in 1988.55 C.F. Peters subsequently published the complete work; although copyrighted in 1986, it was unavailable until 1990.

Structure

Albright describes 1732 as "a program sonata in the style of Bach's Capriccio 'on the Departure of his Beloved Brother' and of the Biblical Stories of Johann Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor at Leipzig."56 The sonata traces events surrounding the emigration of Albright's ancestor, Johannes Albrecht and family, to the New World from early eighteenth-century Germany. Albright recommends either that a narrator read short lines of historical material from the score, or that program notes be distributed.

1732 has seven movements: (1) Introduction; (2) The Family Albrecht in Germany; (3) William Penn Invites the German Farmers to Buy Land in the New Colony that Bears his Name; (4) Exodus of the Palatines, 1683-1754; (5) Settlement of the Land: on the Schuylkill River in Berks County; (6) Frank to the point of Rudeness, the Albright Clan Guards Honesty as a Cardinal Virtue; and (7) An Evening Dance: the Thanks of the Family for their Divine Providence. Individual movements are unrelated in motivic material, except for a few instances of reminiscence music. The work has numerous citations from existent music and parodies of past composers' styles. Table 8 lists the citations and parodies in 1732.

A sequence of five perfect fifths, C-G, A-E, F-sharp-C-sharp, G-D, and B-F-sharp, is repeated five times in the "Introduction," with rhythmic and ornamentational alterations in each repetition. This movement is similar to the opening movement of Organbook III, "Fanfare/Echo," which has the same registration and the same compositional basis--accented, staccato, open fifths in both manuals and pedal.57 The "Introduction" to 1732 is considerably shorter, however, and ends abruptly with two sets of three chromatically descending perfect fifths.

The second movement, "The Family Albrecht," begins with dissonant ff flourishes (mm. 1-12) and repeated staccato clusters (mm. 12-14). Then, additional ff flourishes and "nasty" minor seconds return to interrupt the citation of Bach's Kantate 82 (mm. 15-50).58 After the citation, more flourishes (mm. 51-56) and staccato clusters (mm. 56-58) follow. The movement ends with a citation of Psalm 118: Lobwasser Psalter.

The first nine measures of the third movement, "William Penn's Invitation," are "slow and pompous," and in dotted rhythm. Notes are repeated in manuals and pedal at three different dynamic levels. In the following section (mm. 10-21), back-to-back citations illustrate the coincidental similarity between Bach's Kaffee Kantate and Moussorgsky's Market Place at Limoges.

The fourth movement, "Exodus of the Palatines," musically depicts the ocean voyage of the Albright clan and their subsequent arrival at the port of Philadelphia. The gently rocking motion in the citation from Bach's Kantate 56 represents calm seas (mm. 1-14). Against that background are ascending B-flat arpeggios, played canonically in the right hand and pedal parts. Then, rapid tremolos, glissandos, and scherzo-like flute figuration depict the "danger of storm and pirates" (mm. 15-36).

A stylized toccata (mm. 37-45) illustrates "the hardship of passage, the steadfastness of Anna Barbara, the stinking water and meager rations."59 The toccata consists of a descending figure in nonuplets repeated in the manuals against a pedal line that descends by perfect fifths. The suffering of the passengers ("the stinking water and meager rations") is represented by a descending chromatic motive from Bach's Capriccio "on the departure of his beloved brother." The motive is developed in the styles of both Busoni and Schönberg (mm. 46-62). Bach's Kantate 56 is then cited a second time to represent the voyagers' arrival in the New World; this time the citation is accompanied by descending B-flat arpeggios, again played canonically in the right hand and pedal parts. The movement ends with a Pennsylvania "Dutch" (Deutsch) folk song melody, played in high register and accompanied by the left-hand figuration from Kantate 56.

A "Franckian Chorale" introduces the fifth movement, "Settlement of the Land." After patriotic-sounding themes, harp "strums," the suggestion of a waltz, and a comically extended dominant preparation (mm. 26-34), the music depicts the action and gunfire of a Revolutionary War battle. The "Franckian Chorale" then returns for the triumphant conclusion of the war.

The sixth movement in the suite, "Frank to the Point of Rudeness," is the only one that has a consistent meter, 4/2, throughout. Staccato figuration, "de la manière 'Beethoven'," is interrupted by sffz minor seconds on the 32' pedal reed, and by "duck-like" quacks on the Krummhorn. The movement concludes with a two-measure reminiscence of the "Introduction," and a final quack.

The seventh movement, "An Evening Dance," is a molto vivo two-step in 2/2 meter. Various Appalachian "stomps," banjo and fiddle music, and folk harmonic progressions represent a barn dance celebration.

Registration

Because of the large number of registration changes, an instrument with three manuals is recommended. The work requires 58-key manuals and a 32-key pedal clavier; an instrument with 56-key manuals and a 30-key pedal clavier can be used, however, by making two adjustments in the second movement: (1) changing the 4' pedal stop to a 2' stop and playing the pedal line an octave lower in mm. 42-45; and (2) playing the right-hand part an octave lower in mm. 59-60. If a 2' pedal stop is not available for mm. 42-45 (on a 30-key pedal clavier), Albright suggests an alternative: "Play the right-foot part of m. 44 (only) with the left hand; mm. 43 and 45 are to be played as written."60 If this alternative is necessary, (1) the left hand should omit the c''-e'' interval on the second and third beats of m. 44 in favor of the melody transferred from the pedal, and (2) the pedal should remain at 4' pitch, with the ossia (8va bassa) not taken. Expression pedal markings in 1732 are infrequent; the work can be performed on an instrument with no expressive divisions.

Albright sometimes specifies particular tonal colors but more often uses dynamic markings to indicate ensemble registrations. Table 9 lists specific stops and tonal colors required.

Besides the stops listed in Table 9, the instrument needs both a 16' reed plenum and a 16' principal plenum with mixtures for the necessary timbral and dynamic variety. On some instruments it is possible to overcome stop limitations with intramanual couplers.

Interpretation

In a 1980 lecture on "Creativity and Expressivity" at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Albright stated his view that "expressive performance is possible on the organ, an instrument capable of unending sound, primarily through the skillful use of time or duration."61 A report in The American Organist summarized his lecture:

Albright stressed the need to think of personality in each line, to think of action and reaction within the composition, to sense the direction of the music in order to heighten its activity or to spread the tempo slightly as needed. He said that this can be done in passages that are notated in equal values. To play in this manner helps the listener avoid a kind of "grayness" in which the sounds are undistinguished and run together. In his own recent works, Albright has included words and phrases to assist the performer to characterize lines and sounds, to express personality in the music.62

The programmatic character of 1732 suggests an adventure story, told against a background of musical sound effects. Dry wit and humor are evident in both music and narration, although organist Douglas Reed, who has performed and written about many Albright works, deemphasizes that aspect of the work:

The format of the work is similar to Albright's earlier The King of Instruments (1978) as both works employ a text, a narrator, and various musical styles. The spirit of 1732, however, is somewhat more serious and personal than the humorous, sometimes irreverent The King of Instruments. 63

Asked to comment on how solemn, or how tongue-in-cheek, 1732 is intended to be, Albright writes: "I have done it relatively seriously, with dramatic inflection [in the narration] when appropriate. The humor, somewhat ambiguously, will come through. Satire it is not, and it's not exactly tongue-in-cheek."64 A narrator is clearly preferred for performances of the work, but lengthy program notes from the score may be substituted.

Except for the sixth movement, which is entirely in 4/2 meter, Albright uses simple or irregular changing meters throughout the work. There is an idiosyncrasy, however; a single measure of compound meter, 9/8, is in the fifth movement (m. 6). Note values are relative throughout the constantly changing meters.

The notation in the "Introduction" is complex in order to achieve the effect of the manual and pedal parts moving slightly out of synchronization. Rhythm, therefore, must be precise, especially the irregularly timed releases of the perfect fifths. This short, Coplandesque movement suggests open frontier, and is played without rubato.

The ff flourishes at the beginning of "The Family Albrecht" are dramatic and turbulent. A ritardando is specifically not included at the end of m. 14, thereby producing maximum contrast between the violent staccato clusters and the ppp entrance of Kantate 82. Furthermore, the ff flourishes that interrupt the chorale are intended to be shocking; the performer does not telegraph his intentions either by body movement or by excessive rounding of phrases. The final section of the movement (mm. 61-66) is the Lobwasser Psalter, which represents the enduring faith of the farmers. It is registered and played semplice. In mm. 63-64 the hands are deliberately out of synchronization, as indicated by the complex notation. Those two measures produce a blurred effect, with one hand moving slightly ahead, or behind, the other.

The beginning of "William Penn's Invitation" has an exaggerated, pompous character. The Kaffee Kantate citation (mm. 10-16) that follows is marked with intentionally passé "Baroque" articulation--two slurred notes followed by two staccato notes--which should be carefully observed. The Moussorgsky citation in m. 17, a whimsical comparison to the Bach citation, is played with the indicated articulation.

"Exodus of the Palatines" begins with a Kantate 56 citation and gentle, ascending arpeggios. Articulation is legato. The marking senza rit. in m. 14 indicates an abrupt shift into the "storm and pirates" section (mm. 15-36). The coloristic effects suggest a dramatic theatre organ accompaniment to a silent movie adventure. The white-key glissando in m. 30 is performed with the nails of the index and middle fingers of the right hand.

The toccata with "strange and contrasting sounds" in mm. 38-45 is a stylized imitation of late nineteenth-century French grand orgue toccatas. The chromatic lines in the citation of Bach's Capriccio "on the departure of his beloved brother" (mm. 46-62) are played movendo ma espressivo and legato, perhaps suggesting an overly sentimental phrasing.

The music must be allowed to "breathe" during the pause between mm. 62 and 63. The melody in the folk song that ends the movement (mm. 69-81) may be phrased at the punctuation marks in the accompanying text.

The performer has to adapt quickly to frequent, abrupt changes in style in "Settlement of the Land." For example, the change in style from maestoso Franckian chorale in mm. 15-16 to Viennese waltz in mm. 17-18 must be instantaneous, because the waltz is only a few beats long. The performer must also evince the playfulness of the exaggerated dominant preparation in mm. 27-34 as a cadential second-inversion chord, accompanied by florid thirty-second-note scale runs, arpeggios, and broken chords, raises the expectation of a cadence; instead, another long, florid passage begins.

The Revolutionary War battle scene in mm. 37-46 is marked violent, but the tempo should not increase. Moreover, the tempo does not vacillate anywhere in the movement; at the two spots that most tempt the performer to change the tempo, l'istesso tempo is marked. The last section in "Settlement of the Land" (mm. 47-54) represents the triumphant conclusion of the battle. The B-C-sharp long trill that begins in m. 47 should be played as fast as possible.

"Frank to the Point of Rudeness" is a scherzo that is played on as many manuals as possible, with "registration constantly shifting, ad lib." The dynamic also changes, therefore, depending upon the stops chosen. The entrance of the 32' or 16' pedal reed in m. 10 must be sudden and unexpected. Articulation in this movement is clearly marked and should be followed exactly. During the pauses in m. 18 and m. 20 the performer remains suspended in mid-gesture.

In "An Evening Dance," the fastest and most technically difficult movement, "the composer is imagining the bluegrass music his forebears might have preferred."65 The pedaling is done almost entirely by the left foot, which swings back and forth in the manner of a theatre organist. The pedal line in mm. 65-72 may be whistled or sung by the narrator, according to the score.66 A footnote to the "Fingerbreaker" section, ff with gusto, in mm. 93-116 states that "during this difficult solo a small amount of 'gloss' and approximation may be necessary."67 Nevertheless, it is quite possible, with practice, to play the section accurately, even at the rapid tempo. Another difficult segment is the vide passage (mm. 129-32); despite the technical difficulty, the molto vivo two-against-three rhythm is exciting, and should be included, if possible.68 The right-hand part in the final section, mm. 135-54, is suggestive of swing jazz, and is effective when played in a swing rhythm. Asked if such an interpretation is appropriate, Albright commented that it is "probably OK, but at that tempo, it probably doesn't matter much."69

Table 10 lists score errata, as confirmed by Albright.70 1732, which has not been commercially recorded, is approximately fifteen minutes in length.

Notes

                  50.           Hitchcock, s.v. "Albright, William."

                  51.           Wilma Salisbury, "William Albright," The Diapason, no. 748 (March 1972): 17.

                  52.           Philip Brunelle, "William Albright: 1993 AGO Composer of the Year," TAO 27, no. 1 (January 1993): 10.

                  53.           Douglas Reed, "William Albright: Organ Music of the 80s," TAO 27, no. 4 (April 1993): 60-63; Hitchcock, s.v. "Albright, William;" Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, eds., Contemporary Composers (Chicago: St. James Press, 1992), s.v. "Albright, William;"  Corliss R. Arnold, Organ Literature: A Comprehensive Survey, 2d ed., vol. 2, (Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1984), s.v. "Albright, William;" Kratzenstein, 190; Marilyn Mason, "Forty Years Commissioning Organ Music," TAO 20, no. 4 (April 1986): 101, 103; Albright, E-mail communication with this writer, April 24, 1995.

                  54.           William Albright, 1732: In memoriam Johannes Albrecht (New York: C.F. Peters, 1985).

                  55.           Philip Brunelle, ed., The AGO 90th-Anniversary Anthology of American Organ Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 3.

                  56.           Albright, preface, i.

                  57.           William Albright, Organbook III (New York: C.F. Peters, 1980), 1-7.

                  58.           Albright characteristically uses colorful performance directions in his works.

                  59.           Albright, 1732, 13.

                  60.           Albright, Letter to this writer, June 25, 1994.

                  61.           Delores Bruch, "Creativity and the New Organ," TAO 14, no. 1 (January 1980): 33.

                  62.           Ibid.

                  63.           Reed, 60.

                  64.           Albright, Letter to this writer, November 15, 1993.

                  65.           Reed.

                  66.           Albright, 1732, 27.

                  67.           Ibid., 29.

                  68.           A vide passage is an optional cut.

                  69.           Albright, Letter to this writer, November 15, 1993.

                  70.           Albright, Letter to this writer, June 25, 1994.

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