Rag in 7 and Vulpius
I have greatly enjoyed using the Jeux soundfont:
it is a truly amazing virtual instrument.
Many thanks to John W. McCoy for making it.
(All of these files are in the quick download format mp3pro)
 Rag in 7 (1.33 MB) I wrote this for Petra Mohr's special birthday book. Burkhard, her husband, tells me that an attempt was made to perform this piece with percussion as well, so here is a version using percussion - it certainly adds to the fun and also makes the 7 time rhythm clearer. Rag in 7 with added percussion
The registration used for the Rag in 7 is as follows: Pedals start with principal ped 16, the positif (pos) then takes up the pedal theme with piffaro and the grand orgue (g.o.) then comes in with gedackt and mixture VI By bar 8 the pos has added a cor anglais 8 and the g.o. has an added pienino, whilst the pedal has a scarcely noticeable addition of Quintade III (16 foot) By bar 12 the g.o has gone to viola and principals 4+8+3, also keeping the pienino and the pos has gone to ripieno II and the rumbling in the pedal is due to an added soubasse 16 By bar 19 the forces start to muster with a trompetta de batalla on pos (is that possible on a real organ, I wonder?) and the g.o. has gone to tutti - shortly after that the pedal comes out with basse de trompette and posaune for its solo interlude. By bar 47 the sounds begins to decrease in readiness for a gentler registration at bar 48: just montre and flute on g.o. and pedal reduces to principals 16+4 a sweet little rohrflöte is added at bar 57, whilst the music gets ready very gradually to take off again at 62 the pos does a little waiting theme on a voix humaine sans tremblant, which is repeated at bar 6 with tremulant - very subtle, doncha fink? - the g.o. then introduces the clarines 8+2 stop and the pos repeats its little waiting theme on gran cornet V, but there is then a return to the more standard principal chorus sound on the g.o., going on to the clear sounding principals 8+2+1 by bar 89 accompanied by viola celeste and gran cornet on the pos bar 93 is even lighter in tone : principals 16+4 on g.o., and losing the gran cornet on pos. But at bar 97 the trompetta de batalla returns to round the piece off in a victorious flourish - (slighly offset in the percussion version by a cheeky little extra comment!) Published by MUSIK FABRIK |  |
The second piece is a version of my Prelude on Gelobt Sei Gott, (a hymn by Vulpius), which I wrote for Carson Cooman:
Vulpius.mp3 (1.65 MB) The registration I used here for this recording is as follows: Mild English chorus on g.o and diapasons 8+4 on pedal, introducing a backing theme reminiscent of a children's story. The pos then introduces the Vulpius tune, transposed from the original 3/4 to 4/4, on plein jeu VI (neo-baroque) The pedals go into a faster motion, with added fonds 16+8+4, in bar 17 leading to a dulling of the sound in bar 18 to a soft plein jeu on the Vulpius tune and principals 8+2+1 on the children's theme. The waiting theme at bar 25 on hautbois and quint is accompanied by Choir chorus, and the pedal goes to principals 16+4. At the end of bar 28 the reeds then take over (reeds pedal 8+16+4 - redds g.o 8+4 going on to 16+8+4 two bars later) - This introduces a modal shift in the music, from C major to C sharp minor with flattend seventh. The fairly decorated Vulpius theme at bar 36 is also on reeds 16+8+4 - this may need some alteration on some live organs in order to be heard, but it works in this recording, partly by moving it to the other side of the stereo spectrum from the children's theme. This problem is mitigated by the addition of trompette en chamade 8 to the Vulpius theme at the end of bar 39 and diapasons 8+2 at bar 44. The mode swings back to the major at bar 48, and the sound returns to principals chorus (16+8+4+2). In bar 54 Vulpius is replaced by a cheeky melody on plein jeu, which comes from the Negro Spiritual "Go tell it on the mountain". The tone of this spiritual tune is brightened very slightly at bar 58 by a quart de Nazard (2 foot). At bar 61 the pedal moves over to the smoother sound of bourdon and principal 16+8, and the tune returns to the Vulpius (in a very altered decorated version) on cromorne + viola 8+4, with the children's theme no more than an echo on voix humaine sans tremblant Bar 69 returns to the little waiting motif, adding a mixture III to the voix humaine sans tremblant. Getting near to the end, the pedal acquires some extra foundation (fonds 16+8+4) and the final sounds include a little extra from the addition of gedackt and mixture VI in the g.o. Published by ZIMBEL PRESS |
For those using Finale 2001 or above, you might like to download this little template file (organ_jeux.zip) (44 KB - zipped ftm file) that I created. It references the jeux soundfont in Finale's note expression section, which means that, once you have loaded the soundfont into your soundcard, you can allocate registrations by name directly into your score in Finale.
Obviously, if you need to use more than one soundfont at once, you would probably be better advised to use a sequencer programme such as Cakewalk, but I have found this template very useful for unaccompanied organ pieces.
The percussion section (as in the Rag in 7 with percussion above) remains intact in channel 10 even when the soundfont is loaded.