Wayne Marshall 'Makes it up'

[Roger Judd]

Just come across this:–

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033k419[/URL]

RJ

[Serial_Apologist]

Just come across this:–

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033k419[/URL]

RJ

Try:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033k419

[ardcarp]

Interesting. Improvisation includes anything from 'making holy noises' to fill in a gap before during or after a service, to a full-blown working out of a theme, throwing the organ about all over the place, maybe even creating a fugue with augmentation and stretto. Wayne Marshall has a wonderful palette of scrummy-sounding chords, but I felt his demo relied rather heavily on those, just using snippets of melody, mainly on top. He did not for instance build anything into a terrific climax.
I did disagree with him on one point. He said [about improvisation] 'You either have it or you don't...it can't be taught' or words to that effect. Well, clearly some have a greater aptitude for it than others, but I know it can be taught, and indeed it is in France. Obviously you need a fairly gifted pupil with a good ear and an easy keyboard facility, but you can certainly get them to develop techniques way beyond the 'making of holy noises'. And it is one area where the pupil can become better than the master!

I wonder if you'd care to comment, Roger?

[ardcarp]

PS (And I think I've mentioned this before.) When I was a student, Gaston Litaize the blind French organist came to give a recital on a vast 4-manual beast. I was appointed to be his 'guide' helping him to find his way round the instrument...which he did with amazing speed, and I only had to assist him to hand register on a few occasions during his recital. He ended with an improvisation and had asked in advance if a student could pass up a written-out theme for him to use. This was all unseen, and to my dismay the scrap of Ms paper handed up...and which I had to play to him....was a 12-note row all written in semi-breves, i.e. with no rhythm at all. He was a bit thrown by it, I have to say! He asked for it to be played a couple of times more. To his great credit he produced something quite passable, and his technique was to use four notes at a time in all sorts of different ways, creating a structure of loud (first four notes) quiet (middle four notes) loud and crescendo-ing (last four notes) and topped it off by playing the whole theme in unison at full blast. A defiant gesture I think. I guess he would have preferred Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star!