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  L E S S O N S
  i n
  t h e
  A R C A N E
  
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  ESSERCIZI QUASI SONATA
  Tracks 1–3
  
  A three-movement Sonata for Piano, for two players,
  cobbled together from a series of lessons in which
  the nine-year-old Leopoldine was given a new riff to
  learn each week, which she then played as a Basso
  ostinato, upon which I improvised a few variations.
  Various keys and styles were visited, until the last
  lesson, when things got shipwrecked in an attempted
  fugue.
  
  For the benefit of the skeptical, we furnish copy for our
  25 Lessons — (Track art)
  
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  CAPTIVATING STRINGS
  Track 4
  
  The title is a double-entendre — here we sought to
  "hold the strings in captivity" in strict and unremitting
  six-bar phrase-groups for a full half-hour.
  
  But would you notice?
  For 19 Solo Strings: 5 / 4 / 4 / 6
  
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  STRING QUARTET
  Track 5
  
  This String Quartet emanates from the scoring in
  Captivating Strings, where the string quartet was a
  central unit, a "concertato" within the ensemble.
  
  Allegro — Scherzo — Finale
  
  Each of these movements contains some very
  old and revised material.
  
  ======================================
  
  SAXOPHONE QUARTET
  Track 6
  
  As in the String Quartet, the saxophone quartet
  here was a central unit, the "concertato" in a
  symphonic anthology we drew-up that included
  several Bach Arrangements, and my infamous
  C a p ri c c i o ( SIX CONCERTS, Track 1).
  
  Allegro — Ostinato — Minuetto —
  Idyll — Scherzo — Differentionem
  
  Each of these movements is mono-
  thematic in affekt and unbroken flow.
  
  ======================================
  
  TRIO
  for Flute, Cello, and Keyboard
  Track 7
  
  Lullaby —Badinerie—
  March — Segue
  
  The Badinerie of course is a takeoff
  on Bach's well-known flute piece.
  
  The March is a 12-bar Da capo, with
  episodes in canon at the Unison, Second,
  Third, Fourth, Tritone, and Fifth.
  
  The Finale is a fugue on a pointillistic
  subject (also 12 bars long) first stated
  in the Cello.
  
  ======================================
  
  EAR TRAINING & KEYBOARD HARMONY
  Track 8
  
  The Bach Akademie is singularly committed
  to the highest standards of practical musicianship
  and each aspirant is expected to be able to hear a
  melody and play it back in full harmony. Here,
  Dr. A. dictates an entire piece to Prof. F., who
  plays it back phrase-by-phrase from his remote
  location in the Ivory Tower.
  
  ======================================
  
  Track 9
  By Leopoldine Apontes-Morana
  
  DUE SOLI:
  Sonatina per il Violino e poi la Viola, con
  l'accompagnato della Pedali dell' Organo
  
  In the 17th & 18th centuries, musicians were not as
  specialized as they are today. And in Germany it was
  not unheard of for the organist to play a solo on the
  Violin or Viola while accompanying himself (or as
  in this case, herself) at the pedals of the Organ.
  
  In two movements:
  Lamento — Giga
  
  ======================================
  
  10 CONTRAPUNCTISTI
  Track 10
  
  For this study, our students drew lots
  to determine who would go first, second,
  third, etc. I then drew-up a 1½-minute
  file-rendition of the old Lutheran hymn
  "Aus tiefer not schrei ich zu dir" ( "Out
  of the depths I cry to Thee" ). The first
  student was then asked to counterpoint
  that with one additional line in contrasting
  timbre ; the next student was then asked
  to add a further line to that; the next, to
  add yet a further line; &c., &c.
  
  This merry prank took longer than necessary
  but in the end — voila! — we created a
  Chorale Partita in 10 movements, each with
  successively increased numbers of parts ;
  which ultimately was of no use in conveying
  the true science of counterpoint anyway. It's
  all about navigating restrictive musical spaces—
  not about superimposing parts on top of each other
  like so many dead bodies!
  
  ======================================
  
  MESSE BASSE IMPROVISÉE
  = Pre-order =
  
  During the great flourishing in the art of the pipe organ
  in early 20th-century France, the organist was presented
  with the opportunity to play almost continuously through
  out the duration of the Roman ritual in which the death,
  blood, and body of Jesus was celebrated. This was the
  so-called "Messe basse" — the Low Mass, as opposed
  to High Mass, which was sung. The organist could play
  the Low Mass in one or both of two ways — he could
  effectively run through his repertory in a kind of quasi-
  concert, or he could improvise the whole damned thing.
  The improvisateurs gave the assurance of coming to a
  cadence in the one place where the music had to stop—
  during the preaching.
  
  As a musical art-form, the Messe Basse was an attempt
  to capture what might have been played improvisatorily
  at certain points, e.g., through the Introit, Offertory, etc.,
  and it is a pity that a great composer like Louis Vierne
  left us with only two examples in this form.
  
  (NB: You may hear his "Messe basse pour les défunts"
  in our earlier album, LES ORGANISTES, Tracks 5–10.)
  
  For my improbable and anachronistic "Messe basse," I have
  conjured-up a nasty technical problem — one that seems,
  somehow, to represent the whole degraded lot of the modern
  church organist. In my first movement, the writing is confined
  to two octaves only , and with each successive movement, this
  ambitus decreases by a tone, until finally, the entire ambitus is
  reduced to that of a major ninth only. Within these confines I
  sought to render short, minute-long tokens to complement the
  Prélude, Introït, Offertory, Elévation, Communion, and Sortie.
  
  So as not to allow the music to become too lethargic, I incorporate
  a variety of keys and meters, and again, the implication here is that
  the organist plays almost continously, and that these pieces merely
  highlight the ordinary.
  
  CONTENTS:
  Prélude ( c# to c#") – C#m – 5/4:
  The Church ensures that the organist is neither seen nor heard.
  
  Introït ( d to c") – F# – 4/8:
  The priests, deacons, and other assholes come marching in.
  
  Offertory ( d# to b') – Bm – 4/2:
  A basket of bread & bowl of juice are offered-up in sacrifice to
  a wrathful, vengeful god, while a basket of coins is offered-up
  in further enrichment to the Church.
  
  Elévation ( e to a#') – E – 3/4:
  The aforementioned bowl & basket are miraculously transformed into
  the flesh & blood of Christ, through the magical power of the Officiants.
  
  Communion ( f to a') – Am – 12/8:
  The poor & hungry are given a morsel of bread, mindful that their
  subsistence depends upon these Holy Offices.
  
  Sortie ( f# to g#') – D – 18/16:
  The misplaced faith is sent forth to the world.
  
  ======================================
  
  LIVRE D'ORGUE
  Tracks 11–16
  
  The Livre d'Orgue was the Essential Playbook
  for French organists in the 17th & 18th centuries.
  It pertained almost entirely to the church rites in
  Medieval Christiandom. But here I wished to take
  a different tack, preserving the form and spirit of
  the old Livre d'Orgue while excising its literal and
  functional use. I have therefore chosen for my
  "liturgical context" a set of precepts drawn from
  an especial prayer, revealed by a 20th-century
  American mystic, James Padgett, who was active
  from 1914 to about 1920.
  
  Two of these pieces are direct takeoffs from
  Messiaen's 1935 livre, "La Nativité du Seigneur."
  But the rest are original enough, and the traditional
  concluding Toccata is a peculiar instance of a sparce
  two-part texture that is meant to resound fully and
  clangorously even in a large cavernous space such as
  Notre-Dame de Paris.
  
  CONTENTS:
  I. The Opening of the Soul
  II. Come Holy Spirit
  III. A Prayer for Faith
  IV. We Are Thy Children
  V. At One With Thee
  VI. Toccata
  
  ======================================
  
  ETERNAL PRELUDE
  Track 17
  
  The Arpeggio Prelude is well-known by example,
  if not by name—think BWV 846, 872, 815a, 923,
  924, 944, 999, 791—each a series of harmonies with
  little or no melodic interest. Here, for our concluding
  study, I wished to concoct a "mega-prelude" — an
  impracticably deep, theoretically-minded survey of
  every possible chord-type, in which, at the end, the
  ambitus steadily rises to the uppermost registers
  of the piano keyboard.
  
  ======================================
  
  ETERNAL FUGUE
  Track 18 (segue)
  
  In 1997, a few odd papers from
  the Estate of Olivier Messiaen
  were transmitted for publication.
  Among these was a piece called
  "Monodie for Organ." It actually
  had appeared 35 years earlier, in
  Jean Bonfils's Méthode d'Orgue,
  wherein Messiaen sought to
  illustrate the "suspendu" effect
  so prized by French organists.
  
  I have drawn upon this piece
  as the basis for a movement
  in which Piano, Clarinet, Cello,
  Flute, Horn, and Two Violas
  come and go in strict canonic
  succession. I am happy to
  share with the respective
  publishers any reasonable
  portion of the sales price
  for these albums, after the
  deduction of fees & taxes,
  and with proper invoice. ... more
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	1.	Essercizi quasi Sonata 10:35	info
	2.	__ Part Two 07:47	info
	3.	__ Part Three 06:04	info
	4.	Captivating Strings 29:45	info
	5.	String Quartet 24:00	info
	6.	Saxophone Quartet 23:45	info
	7.	Canonic Trio 14:54	info
	8.	Due soli (L. A.-M.) 06:17	info
	9.	Ear Training & Keyboard Harmony 05:15	info
	10.	Ten Contrapunctisti 15:06	info
	11.	Flûtes 02:12	info
	12.	Grands jeux 02:54	info
	13.	Recit en Taille 03:04	info
	14.	Voix humaine 04:24	info
	15.	Trio 02:58	info
	16.	Plein jeu 02:23	info
	17.	Eternal Prelude 18:00	info
	18.	Eternal Fugue 39:38	info

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