1. Couperin: Elevation: Tierce en Taille (from Messe pour les Convents de Religieux et Religieuses)

2. Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542)

3. K. Leighton: Paean

4. J. Demessieux: Te Deum (Op.11)

what do you guys think???

sort of finished the Dupre variations (finally!!! took me a while) and have started Vierne organ symphony no. 2 first movement.

Do you have timings for these, please, LK?

the programme has been approved by the ex-head of music (he's still on the faculty) and by the sound of the e-mail, he doesn't like it that much.

timings:

03 :15 for the couperin
10:21 for the Bach
05:07 for the Leighton
07:29 for the Demessieux

they are the timings i took from recordings (of course they are near enough to mine ).

Why not ask him to explain what he doesn't like about it LK, if, indeed, that is the case?

It looks a good, varied programme to me; the right standard at this level and a good cross-section of the repertoire.

May I ask, lk, which course you have undertaken for which this is the Final Year Recital ?
It is a challenging programme but, I suppose, is expected at the level you have reached.
I respectfully offer my own comment : I would have been inclined to include a significant work by a 19th century composer, and one by a contemporary composer. Twentieth-century composers though they are, Demessieux and Leighton are not contemporary.
Of course my inclination is entirely personal. I like all the music you have selected including the Leighton and Demessieux both of which I find arrestingly impressive.

Best wishes for the performance.

rk

the ex-head of music doesn't have a clue when it comes to organ repertoire. he marked my recital last year (giving the most outrageous and unrelated comments).

originally, i did think of putting the dupre variations in. just don't want to risk it really in my final. do you think the Bach g minior and demessieux te deum is difficult: not that i find both of them are a piece of cake (they won't be the worse i have to learn this year: i still have Reger waiting for me), but the professors at where i am just think they are nastily difficult.

They're not fiendishly difficult, but I don't think they need to be. They're certainly at the right level though, and will give you plenty of opportunity to display your musicianship. They're also both significant pieces in the repertoire.

It's the MusB (hons) at university of Manchester. i would love to put a lot of stuff into the programme, but seeing we are only allowed a 30-min-recital: it is difficult. i did think of playing some Reger and probably some Messiaen. the time is a difficult factor. also the fact is that i'm the first one to be examined out of the entire year, at 9am, at St. Anns in town (have to beg the verger to open an hour earlier than usual, so that i can sit my exam) and i don't have warm-up time. i need to play something that i know well enough that i could walk straight in and play well (hoping they would give me a first).

Yes, lk, I can appreciate your difficulty. 30 minutes is not a long time for a comprehensive recital of significant works and I think that with this limitation your choice of programme is excellent.
All the best once again (and hope you get your 'first') !
rk

Looks a good programme to me.
I find that particular Bach on very challenging, but then I was asked to play it before a wedding service by the groom when I hadnt even reached Grade 8.

i felt really un-talented here. i didn't start learning the piece after i sat all my auditions for post graduate entry...

Are you planning to play the pieces in this order? If so, you are going to have three loud pieces on the trot. I'm not sure this is a good idea; personally I would find that a bit wearing. I think I'd prefer either:

Bach
Couperin
Leighton
Demessieux

or

Leighton
Couperin
Bach
Demessieux

Just my view.

i wasn't sure about the order to be honest. thanks Vox Humana, i do like to start with Bach. hopefully that won't be a wrong move. one of the professors said my programme is rather 'loud'.

Apologies, have only just noticed this thread. I like the pieces, but I have to echo the point about loudness. Are you doing the Bach prelude all on 'pleno'? I heard TT do the Gminor with two levels for the Prelude which I thought was very effective.

I'm very pleased you're playing some Leighton, still woefully underplayed by organists. I shall be doing 'Rockingham' on Sunday, which is exquisite. If you feel like a challenge after that for some meaty Leighton, the Dublin Festival Organ Mass is well worth investigating.

i'm not playing the Fantasia all on pleno: i've been doing the two levels style since day 1 of learning.

i like leighton's music a lot: they suit my character very well. Paean didn't take me long to learn, only a few days.

If thats how you find it LK i'd suggest that you find some more of it - we all seem to have composers we just connect with and whose music immediately makes sense and requires very little work... when playing piano I feel this with even the most difficult Haydn.

Nothing wrong with the programme... is yours like my BA and marked on musicianship and communication as much as on technical ability?

I'm thinking of stealing your thunder and doing demessieux next year for my finals though.

i like leighton and a lot of the french composers. i'm keen on bach, but mostly on the minor stuff.

i don't know much about the marking scheme...oh well, i played eben's moto ostinato, mendelssohn sonata no. 2 in c minor and some langlais: they aren't remotely difficult.

oh well, should really plough on with couperin and vierne 2 (first movement).