You can learn quite a lot from singers, but do not believe all that they say.
Advice to Young Musicians – Robert Schumann
Von Sängern und Sängerinnen lässt sich Manches lernen, doch glaube ihnen auch nicht Alles!
Hmmm… the second half of this advice from Schumann is a bit hard to understand. Let’s see what did Steven Isserlis say?
Ok, now, let us focus on the first half of the sentence, which I agree very much with it. At the moment, my emphasis on organ learning is Romantic period. Other than sitting in front of my organ, I am also reading a book about organ playing written by Jon Laukvik. On the page 13, he dedicated to deliberate about “Legato” in romantic period. (Legato: smoothly, with no gaps between the notes).
“In organ methods, one is repeatedly advised to sing at the organ, which for romanticism implies legato.”
Jon Laukvik
He cites Alexandre Guilmant to elaborate his point of view:
Alexandre Guilmant’s (Bel Canto: beautiful singing)
“The bel canto of the singer.”
The piece that I am learning now, Cesar Franck’s Organ Choral No. 2 in B Minor, how I love it when the “Cantabile” in bar 65 arrive, so heavenly beautiful. Here, again, a music term that related to singing: Cantabile– Singable, in a singing style.
In short, there is an urgent need to be in the finest song recital in order to continue on my organ learning journey. Bel Canto, Cantabile, of course one has to learn them from a good singer! Like Schumann and Isserlis said.
More reading?
Homepage for Music Lesson with Robert Schumann: