(excerpt from the PEEK application)
What is the organ’s potential as a standard concert instrument, and how can it reach that potential?
Many instruments underwent an exploration period of extended playing techniques during the second half of the 20th century. Many of these techniques were then documented in guidebooks or websites (Weiss and Netti 2018; Cleve 2014; Rees 2013; Strange and Strange 2003; Dick 1989; “Cello Map,” n.d.; “Pianoharmonics.Com – a Systematic Approach to the Inner World of the Grand Piano,” n.d.), so that composers and instrumentalists could easily access them. These educational resources, in conjunction with a considerable repertoire incorporating extended techniques, have resulted in a large body of works by numerous composers all over the world using extended techniques. Organ techniques could undergo a similar development, especially with large and centralized resources.
Two features that are especially explorable and special to the organ are the wide variety of timbres and the organ’s connection to the space it is in. These also happen to be two parameters of music that were especially explored during the latter half of the 20th century with extended instrumental techniques and electronic music (Boyd, Sallis, and Ritter 2020; Battier 2015; Jaroszewicz 2015; Letowski and Letowski 2012; Henriksen 2002; Harley 1997; Emmerson 1998; Carpenter and McLuhan 1960). The organ is capable of producing a plethora of timbres because each organ is equipped with various types of pipes that result in different sounds. By using different combinations of pipes, an even wider variety of sounds can be discovered. The spatial aspect of the organ also has to be addressed since most organs are housed in churches with varying reverberant properties. Moreover, the large physical space the organ requires (with the many hundreds and sometimes many thousands of individual pipes) also affects sounding properties due to delays in sound production and sound arrival.
This question will be pursued primarily through performer and composer experimentation and the research team’s exploration of various organs with different features. Commissioning and engaging with a diverse selection of composers will be essential. The research team will also create works that consistently attempt to push the boundaries of the sound world, primarily through the exploration of different stops and registers and the exploration of different organs in different spaces.
How can composers equip themselves to write for an instrument when the construction of the instrument itself is not standardized?
One of the challenges in creating functional educational materials is that every organ is built to different specifications, tunings, and spatial realities (both concerning the physical size of the instrument itself and the size and architecture of the church or concert hall). There are no standards for the number of manuals an organ must have or the number or kind of stops that should be available. This makes creating thorough and concise documentation a highly complex task. Our materials will describe, on a conceptual level, how various types of organs are constructed to help composers understand the differences in various designs. This will include mechanical, pneumatic, electric, and electronic organs, as well as hyper-organs and software emulations (such as Hauptwerk). From there, we will cross reference techniques and sounds for the various types of organs to further highlight what is possible on which organ and why. We aim to create unified educational materials, while also allowing for and embracing the infinite sonic potential of the organ.
There are many contemporary instrumental technique method books that we could use as a paradigm for organizing our educational materials, as mentioned above (see Question 1), but all of the instruments have consistencies and expected conditions. All violins can play the same techniques, with only slight variances between models. One cannot expect all organs to have the same stops or manual configurations. This means that the system is much more open and variable.
One parallel to this open and variable framework is seen in computer music, because the sound possibilities are even more limitless. Paradigms for computer music performance are continuously being developed and practiced, but these are always changeable and expandable. Therefore, we will take a survey of the literature on computer music composition education (Cheng 2023; Mämmi 2023; Eiksund, Angelo, and Knigge 2020; Pierroux and Rudi 2020; Zhou 2020; Bell 2018; Ruthman and Mantie 2017; Lines 2015; Brown 2014). Because computer music is such a broad field, for specific paradigm examples, we will start with the literature from one specific software often used to create electronic musical works, Max by Cycling74 (Cipriani 2020; Manzo 2012; Zicarelli 1997). Much like the organ, Max is an environment that one must understand as a whole in order to work within the software’s conceptual framework.
The explorative nature of computer music also relates to the organ because the organ has a rich history of improvisation (Szostak 2023b; 2023a; Fidom 2020a; Shewmaker 2020; Johansson 2012; Kim 2011; Johansson 2008; Kruger 2008). Computer music literature that addresses improvisation and exploration will be examined (Hayes 2019; Nika, Chemillier, and Assayag 2017; Fay 2016; Van Nort, Oliveros, and Braasch 2013; Manzo 2012; Katz 2010; Dudas 2010). We will then compare this with the writings on organ improvisation to develop learning tools that composers can learn from regardless of individual access to organs. We will use these parallels to aid us in the creation of organ materials for composers with the goal that they can provide a basic but solid framework from which to begin exploration.
Our primary goal is to bring together materials from different fields of study in a way that will aid composers, students, or practitioners in gaining a technical understanding of the instrument’s construction. We will then build incrementally towards a more holistic framework of understanding the inherent differences in organ designs in order to leverage the organ as an instrument for further sound exploration.
How can we, as creators and researchers, assemble and disseminate materials so composers can use them?
This project’s expressed goal is to have all generated materials, including tutorials, scores, performances, workshops, and presentations, as accessible as possible. Producibles will include an online presence, printed materials, and published papers and scores. We plan to distribute the materials through many means, including digital, online, and printed. We have opted to use YouTube (Rogers, Freitas, and Porfírio 2023; Latta, Thompson, and Cayari 2011) in conjunction with a Website because these platforms are easy to use and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. The University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna will host the Website and it will contain detailed text descriptions, images, score samples, and other necessary digital fragments, sketches, and materials as needed (Sallis et al. 2016; Boutard 2016; Nimrod, Adoni, and Nossek 2015; Boutard, Guastavino, and Turner 2013; Lehmann 2012; Kreidler, Lehmann, and Mahnkopf 2010; Livingstone 2004; Negroponte 1995). Our YouTube channel is already established with several tutorials, lectures, workshop recordings, and musical performances that are freely available. It is essential that not only the printed scores are available for public use, but also the recorded performances of all works composed during the project.
We will publish written texts and physical recordings. We will regularly write and submit papers to conferences and journals for publication during the project. We will also collect all of the musical scores created during the project and publish them in an anthology. Another physical producible will be recordings of all performances on a physical storage medium such as CDs or flash drives. Finally, the research will be assembled into a large and organized book. Through all of these means, we aim to make the results of our research and our resources as widely available as possible so that as many people as possible have access. We will also regularly attend conferences, festivals, symposiums and workshops to present our materials in progress during the project.
In what ways can extensions to the organ, such as technological enhancements and hyper-organs, provide more options for performers and composers?
Organ development has always been influenced by technology. Even the very first organs were produced due to breakthroughs in hydraulic technology in the 3rd century B.C.E. (Valleriani 2014). Technological advancements during the 20th century allowed for incredibly complex electric and electronic organs that offer many sound and performance possibilities (Fidom 2020b). Digital technology also allows us to access these organs in new ways. The KUG commissioned a new Rodgers E-Organ, built in 2012. Thus far, many projects have been created that expand this organ beyond its initial purpose, including Jan Simon Rocnik’s tuning pedal (Ročnik 2015), subsequent artistic use of the pedal by composer Reiko Yamada (Yamada 2017), or Pablo Mariña’s d.b.a. no. 2, which used spatial modulation techniques and live processing of the stops.
The investigative team has also used technology to expand portable MIDI-organs in the form of a detachable split key system, the Frescobaldi2 (Organon 2023). This system allows each octave of an existing MIDI keyboard to be supplied with five extra keys. Both of the developments above describe modifications that build on existing performance techniques. We intend to further investigate these possibilities by exploring and documenting the sonic qualities of the Rodgers and developing the performance and compositional potential of the Frescobaldi2.
How can this investigation of the organ and subsequent creation of works influence art music outside of organ music? What kind of impact can it have?
The development of these organ resources can influence the development of ensemble music (projects for ensemble and organ are also planned) and may even result in new sounds and techniques that composers may be inspired to replicate on other instruments or through orchestrations. A well-known example of this phenomenon can be observed in Gérard Grisey’s “Partiels”, where the orchestra artistically recreates a spectral analysis of a low trombone sound throughout the piece. The knowledge of an instrument and its playing technique has also historically inspired musicians and composers to develop similar techniques on other instruments that mimicked the original sound. Many of these are now included within standard musical terminology, such as arpeggio (from Italian “arpeggiare”, meaning “to play on harp") and flautando (meaning “in the manner of flute”). Samuel Scheid (1587-1654) used the term “imitatio violinistica” in his organ works, meaning “violinistic imitation”, as another example of this instrumental mimicking. Organ-specific sounds and techniques have also been mimicked. Messiaen used an organ-inspired orchestration in the sequences of blocks and sounds that gave a similar effect as organ stop changes. More recently, a computational tool, first created at IRCAM, allows composers to analyze any sound and automatically recreate this sound under various rule sets as a fully orchestrated interpretation of the original (Cello 2022).
A recent example of the organ inspiring orchestral sounds is Francesco Filideis’ “Stèle for Vierne”, premiered at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2022. Here, the composer, an organist himself, uses the construction of the organ and sounds unique to the instrument as direct inspiration for the piece. The new techniques and timbres we discover on the organ may inspire other creatives and lead to new techniques on other instruments or orchestration techniques that they may not have discovered otherwise.
How can these new techniques, playing methods, and expansions be notated?
Another research goal is to find notational guidelines when writing for contemporary organs, making the notation of newly created works less daunting for composers. Notational guidelines can also create more unification between scores, making the organ more easily integrated into performance and music analysis. We would not discourage composers from finding unique notational languages. Instead, we would focus on a framework as a point of departure. The investigative team also recognizes the importance of the tradition of improvisation on the organ. However, notation is essential as a documentary element and is necessary for the reproduction and written archival of works. Therefore, we will investigate past and present notational systems and use their influence in conjunction with our research to develop notations for our extended techniques that reflect the specific technique while retaining the ability of the performer to interpret it for various organs and spaces. We aim to find ways that allow for flexibility while retaining specificity.
These questions can be seen as a point of departure and orientation for the researchers and artists in this project, which will be periodically revised and revisited.