Views from the Choir Loft

Organ Processionals & Postludes: Suggestions Needed

Jeff Ostrowski · January 6, 2015 ·

HEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY, I fell in love with the organ works of Bach: the majestic A minor (BWV 543), the glorious St. Anne (BWV 552), the sumptuous Art of the Fugue, the mighty Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582), the resplendent “Fiddle” Fugue (BWV 539), and so forth. After years of directing music at Mass, I have come to understand that not every great organ piece is appropriate for a Processional or Postlude. Choosing a suitable piece depends on many factors: the skill of the organist, the particular strengths & weaknesses of the organ, the length of the procession, and so forth. People who lack a sensibility for the Roman Rite often choose pieces which—although they are certainly magnificent—are not suitable. To do this is to dishonor the work in question.

Can you please send me some of your favorite Processionals & Postludes? I need specific titles. REMEMBER: they have to be short. That’s why so many of the Bach Preludes & Fugues—as great as they are—do not work, because they’re much too long. Use the CONTACT US tab at the top.

Apologies in advance: You’ll immediately receive an auto-response—sent by a robot—reminding you that we cannot always reply to each and every email we receive.

Below I give examples which, in my humble opinion, work very well. As a processional, a brief excerpt from Bach’s G Major Fantasie (BWV 572). As a Postlude, the famous C Major (BWV 553). I feel that Bach’s Dorian Prelude (audio sample) might work as Processional or Postlude: do you agree?

485 Dorian sample

487 Bach Processional

488 Bach C Major Prelude

About Jeff Ostrowski

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004), and did graduate work in Musicology. He serves as choirmaster for the new FSSP parish in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and children.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski