A mighty Fortress, and an old Church

Here is my improvisation on “Ein feste Burg” (A mighty Fortress) from this morning’s service, with annotations to give an idea of what goes on as a person improvises.

First part: the Tune, G major. In the second time through (an octave lower, the second phrase of the tune, at the 53 second mark), I played a clunker of a note in the right hand accompaniment. To make it work, I continued in that “mode” by playing it again several more times. This is something that happens a lot in my playing, and I think in the work of most improvisers.

1’26” mark: Move to the Dominant (D major). Sometimes the best way is to just go there without transition, and that is what I do. Still going according to plan.

1’54” mark: Repeat the end of the tune as transition into:
2’19” mark: Contrasting section – tune in A dorian, slow. Most often when I am “learning” the tunes through the week, I try them out in various modes (like this); sometimes it is quite interesting and makes it into my Sunday playing.

3’48” mark: Development, building up with the goal of returning to Tonic.
4’08” mark: Uh-oh… I almost slip into “Sine Nomine” (For all the saints!) I get it turned back into the final phrase of the tune I am supposed to be playing.

4’24” mark: Tonic (G major). Tune in left-hand octaves, long notes. If this were an organ improvisation, it would be on the pedals with the big reeds, a toccata. In essence, this section is Species Counterpoint, four notes against one. I try to keep the right hand figuration related to the final phrase of the tune.

5’35” mark: Big arrival on the last note of the tune; the piece is done. Unfortunately, it is still two minutes before the hour. I carry on with cadential material to about the 6’00” mark. Still ninety seconds too early.

What to do? I cannot keep pounding away like this; I have already done it probably four bars beyond what was fitting. Nothing to do but taper it down.

6’15” mark: A key point in bringing it down; slow the motion by half, from eighth notes to quarters, combined with a ritard. The material is still based on the final phrase of the tune – which is one of the most memorable phrases in all of music, and essential to the character of the tune.

6”32” mark: the first Rest in the entire piece. About time! Most improvisations (definitely most of mine) are characterized by too much sound, not enough silence. For some reason, it is very hard to introduce Rests into the texture.

In retrospect, this passage could be viewed as a fulfillment of the slow section in A dorian, now in the home key of G major. This certainly was not a conscious thought at the time. I think that a lot of subconscious work goes into an improvisation, and it often leads to good results. One must have a plan – as I did, except for the coda from 6’00” onward – but there is always more to it than what one intended.

7’00” mark: Time to wrap it up – the B section, playfully (to escape from all that seriousness from about the 2 minute mark onward).

7’30” mark: Done! Final cadence (possibly too cute; I’m not sure if this works or not). Right on the stroke of 9:00 am, just like it is supposed to be.
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Last Sunday, we had a Jazz Eucharist. One of our church members, John Rapson, is a jazzman and composer; he and two of his students played all of the music for the service. John wrote parts for me, as well. Here is one of the pieces from the service, “Maz-Tan Elaborated,” in honor of the percussionist, Maziar Aghvami. He is from Iran, a graduate student in (I think) engineering, and Rapson’s piece is based on a sample of Iranian music that Maziar sent him.

I post it here as an example of the pipe organ in a jazz context, where I think it can be very effective. Note that this YouTube clip is NOT public; it is “unlisted.” I am only the least of the players in the ensemble, and it is not for me to post it into a more public form. Listen to it from the link, but please don’t share it.

For much of the piece, I am doubling the saxophone, sometimes an octave higher. In one passage (starting at about the 3’30” mark), he and I trade off four-bar improvisations. This is common for jazz players; not so much for church organists.

The photos in the YouTube clip are of St. Thaddeus Church (Qara Kelisa), in Iran. Locals claim that the oldest part of the church was built in 68 A.D. by St. Thaddeus, one of the Twelve, and is the oldest surviving church structure in the world.

There is a stunning night-time photo of the church in the Wikipedia article that I did not see until I had made the clip; here it is.