When I have to play organ at short notice, I always can play the organ chorale prelude by J.S. Bach, an organ arrangement of the hymn “Who only lets dear God rule” (Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten) BWV 690. This piece is without pedal (Manualiter), so that I can play on almost every organ, without worrying about the organ bench can be adjusted or not. The content works for almost every worship service. The sound is flexible, either with small plenum (a little grand) or one 8 foot (soft), it depends on what kind of worship service I play.
The danger of playing one piece too often is to play it lifeless. It become motor memory, my fingers are moving and hitting the key without thinking. Even the agogic is programmed in brain. Moreover, when the “non-legato” historical playing complete with a dry acoustic, there you go, I will be delivering “the typewriter effect” of BWV 690.
In one of my organ lessons, we were discussing about solutions to avoid the “typewriter danger”. There are many solutions, just use various imaginations. For example the first four notes, I can imagine four different colours, bright to strong. Another method is imagining bowing of a violinist, for up bow and down bow produce different sounds.
It’s good to have several solutions to keep the piece fresh. My favourite solution is “word”. The first four notes, I imagine : O Jesu Christ. “O Jesu Christ” belong together, one word. Still, they are very individual. There are 4 different vowels “o, e, u, i” combine with varied consonants. The gap between “Je” and “su” is smaller than the gap between “su” and “Christ”. Since the forth note is downbeat, it require more attention than the first 3 notes. To create a little gap is to prepare for the arrival of the first downbeat of the piece.
In short, by imagining “O Jesu Christ” for the first four notes, I can fulfill the Baroque articulation of “non-legato” and avoiding the typewriter danger.
I come to the conclusion, in order to get more inspirations for my organ playing skill, I need to be in a good singer’s concert. This conclusion is approved by Robert Schumann and Steven Isserlis too. If you’re interested in finding out more about what Schumann and Isserlis have said, you can visit a post I’ve written in February 2022: Learn from Singer
PS Typewriter sounds not bad, actually quite good. Listen to this:
My good night verse for tonight:
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the rock that naught can move
Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten
Who only lets dear God rule
Hymn (1641) by Georg Neumark
Translation by Catherine Winkworth