It seems I havn't posted anything since june, but it doesn't mean I forgot about SOP Contest :)
This week I'd like to share this beautiful fugue in g-minor. I must admitt that I don't like the preceding prelude too much, so this time i skipped it. I do plan to record them both some day, though.
I sticked to a very simple registration, as it seems to fit this fugue very well: 8' principal in the manual and 16' Subbas + 8' Gedackt in the pedal. The video is rather a presentation of work-in-progress, as there are many things to improve: especially the articulation (pauses!) and tempo.
If you have any further suggestions to improve my technique, feel free to comment below :)
Great that you rejoin the contest!
I played this Fugue recently as well, including the Prelude. The Prelude is actually my favorite of the eight (together with the first one). Musical taste is a very personal matter :-)
And I play the fugue with 8', 4', 2'. Your registration works great as well. For me that's the beauty of organ music: so many possibilities for phrasing, articulation and registration in just one piece of music...
Hello! It's good to hear from you :)
I enjoyed your recording very much - I recall listening to it in the summer. The way you phrase is a very distant goal for me ;) And yes, the variety of possibilities to interpret the same piece of organ music is something that keeps amazing me all the time!
I'm flattered you see my phrasing/articulation as a goal. I often think it is still sub-optimal at best.
In regard to your question of improving technique: when I practised this piece, it was a nice study in how to play syncopations on the organ. A syncope should have a bit of an accent, so I play the preceding note a little shorter. In the first entry of the theme there are three in a row; in the video you see me frantically counting to get them right. In the rest of the piece I don't maintain 100% this way of playing them. Like I said, suboptimal... 😀
It's nice to hear you play again... Welcome back!