Orgue d'Albert Alain, Romainmotier

[Soubasse]

Well folks, it's fast approaching and I'm nervous on a number of levels. I've had a minor role in preparing the school choir for the brief Alain works that we are performing in Romainmotier Abbey in just a few weeks time (if I had nails to bite, I'd be doing it!). It's getting near "crunch" time, so I really hope we can pull it off with the appropriate amount of skill.

Shortly before the Abbey concert however, there remains for me the very personal and elated apprehension (if that makes sense) of playing the same instrument at which Jehan Alain himself sat, practiced and composed - the organ built by his father, now restored at the Maison de la Dime.

Has anyone here visited and played (or even visited and heard) this organ? If so, I'd really love to hear from you since I have no idea what to expect, what sort of protocols to observe, etc, etc. I've only met Guy Bovet once (very, very briefly), but he seems quite affable via email. Any advice at all that someone may have to offer would be gratefully accepted. Also, how much French would be "polite" to know? I can sort of read it, but conversation is "tres mauvais"

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Soubasse]

No-one? Heavens, do I smell bad or something? Ah well, I guess I'll just offer a report when I return

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Hi Matt !

No smell... no !! he he
Possibly no-one knows !

I'm listening very often my beloved Cd with Marie-Claire playing her father's compositions at the organs in St.Germain en Laye built by a number of people through the ages, Aristede was one of them, Albert also involved in some restoration. Both organs _big and the choir_ sound terrific !
But the personall organ.... I don't know, I've just seen pictures only...
Sorry...
I wish you all the best !!!!!

Best
Panos

PS.French people need some francais talk and you're OK !

 

[teddy]

Hello Mat

Hope it all went well for you. Do give us a progress report

teddy

 

[Serassi1836]

This website talks about the organ:
http://www.jehanalain.ch/orgue1_E.htm

 

[Soubasse]

Well folks, it has happened but because of the frenetic pace of the fortnight, I'm having to rely on videos and photos to remind myself of what actually happened! Suffice it to say that I now have a more practical and personal knowledge of the Alain organ.

It is without doubt a most unique instrument and I would dearly love the chance to go back someday and spend a decent amount of time with it. My practice time as such was sandwiched between rehearsing and performing with our school group (who incidentally made a marvellous sound in the glorious acoustics of Romainmotier Abbey).

My wife and I performed to a small but appreciative audience in the Maison de la Dime. In fact, I'm indebted to my wife for carrying the bulk of the programme with her selection of Alain's piano works, since due to my relatively short time on the Alain organ, it was all I could do to effectively carry out the four pieces I did play. I'm also indebted to the inestimable Guy Bovet and Michel Jordan for their help in changing registrations for me (must have looked rather comical from the audience ... indeed - "How many organists does it take to play Alain?!" was my wife's quote for the day!).

It's only been in the past few days that I've had the chance to digest and process that I've sat at and played the same instrument that my most reverred composer did ... I'm still processing!

 

[GoneBaroque]

Congratulations, It must have been a great thrill, and one you will remember for a long time. Judging from the picture it is certainly a beautiful instrument. Congratulations also to your school group. What an expweience.

 

[teddy]

Hallo Soulbass
What an achievment and experience. Hope you mamage to post some of the videos

teddy

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Hallo Soubasse and congrats !

Lucky you ! It was a great experience to remember for a lifetime !

Now my question :

What's this Agni Yavishta expression pedal ??? ! How does it functions?
Got a whole group of people behind me waiting for this answer.
Has something to do with Hindu god of fire ? and Jehan's compositions about?

Best to you
Panos

 

[L.Palo]

Hi!

And my most sincere congratulations to you Soubasse! That's an experience to talk about, really! My hat's off to you.

J.Alain is definitely one of my favourites, and it must be extremely rewarding to having had the opportunity to play at one of the instruments that obviously inspired him a lot.

Kind regards

Lars P

 

[Soubasse]

Hi Panos,

I was, not surprisingly, bursting with a huge number of questions, none of which I got to ask on the day. I need to email Guy Bovet to thank him anyway, so will be firing off the questions I'd forgotten.

To the best of my knowledge, the "Agni Yavishta" pedal remains a mystery. It was never connected to anything in Albert's lifetime and to date, there has been little documentation to provide any clue. All sorts of silly things spring to mind such as producing pyrotechnic effects whilst playing the Deux Danses a Agni Yavishta (which incidentally, I did play on the day! )

Sorry I can't be of any more help,

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Hi Soubasse, Thanks.

OK, the good news : Graham did some research and found interesting stuff.
I copy his response from jOrgan forum as he replied :

"He composed Deux Danses à Agni Yavishta, for organ, JA 77-78 (AWV 61)

Also drew a sketch of the Agni Yavishta (hindu god of fire):
http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/organ/alain/Agni.htm

I would assume that the Agni Yavishta expression pedal is an Alain
equivalent of a Crescendo pedal

"Although stacking louder stops to synthesize a crescendo was hardly new
by the 1930’s, he toys with the sequence to peculiar effect. The
addition of overtone stops
(the nazard and mixture) happens before the louder ones at unison
level, making for a more
piercing attack than one might expect. The momentum generated through
this buildup
helps foment a dramatic transition into the development section,
illustrating the importance
of registration in delineating the structure of Alain’s work" The
Artist’s Refuge: Idiosyncratic Properties of the Organ Language of
Jehan Alain by Matthew Sellier, Class of 2011

GrahamG "

See all thread here :
http://jorgan.999862.n4.nabble.com/ORGUE-ALAIN-1-0-new-skin-quot-minimalist-quot-td3686708i20.html

Interesting, no?
A crescendo pedal ! Did it worked there ?

Best
Panos

 

[Soubasse]

Well, there's a whole lot of info that's knew to me. Excellent, thanks Panos - and Graham. No, it was certainly wasn't operational when I was there, but the above post does explain some of the registration changes within those works (the second in particular). Very interesting - wasn't adding mutations before 4' or 2' principals a kind of French Renaissance or Baroque thing to do?

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Hi Matt,
Hmmm yes, possible a Rennaissance kinda thing, to give some new impression of the piece while goin' on (?)
By the way Bernd Casper continues his quest on the matter. Hope he'll dig some more up !

Best
Panos

 

[Soubasse]

I heard back from Guy Bovet. He said (and I quote): "the Agni pedal is our fancy! There was always one unconnected pedal at the console." (He would know after all, he had lessons on it when it was still in the Alain house in St. Germain-en-Laye). If it was Albert's intention that it would be a cresecendo pedal as Graham suggests, I'd be fascinated as to how it would work. Some clever adaptation of a Barker-style system perhaps? Interesting ...

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Interesting indeed. Did they try to ask Marie-Claire ??! Possibly she would know something about, no?
After all she saw countless times her father and brother play this organ, even she herself played it at home.....

 

[Soubasse]

She may well have been queried about it at some stage. Speaking of MCA, I was sorry to hear that she's not at all well.

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

This hit me hard Matt....... :-(
You already know Marie is one of my alltime inspirations.... I;ll do a pray for her...