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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Finding Realistic Inspiration for Organ Improvisation

Keven Smith · July 15, 2023

HERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? Can we make up an idea out of nowhere? Or is each of our creative thoughts based on other material we’ve seen or heard? I tend to think that as musicians, we’re products of all the music we’ve ever heard. When we sing, for example, we unconsciously recall the other voices we’ve loved best and discover elements of their resonance in our own voices. When we conduct, our bodies use a vocabulary of shapes and patterns we didn’t even know we were collecting as we watched other conductors direct us in ensembles.

When we improvise, we can’t play what’s not in our audiation—or at least, we can’t keep that up for long. Everything we improvise sounds familiar because it is. But to trace each phrase or each interval back to the day we acquired it would be as difficult as tracing each cell in our body back to the meal from which it was built.

How do we get better at improvising? By building up the library of music in our audiation. How do we build that library? By listening. A wonderful young organist friend of mine who’s wise beyond his years gave me some improvisation tips a few years ago. First priority: listen to lots of music.

It’s great advice, of course, because we acquire music in the same way we first acquired language as babies: by listening. The more good music we listen to, the more we’ll expand our audiational library.

But I contend that for a beginning improviser, not all music is created equal. We need ideas we can emulate, and we can’t emulate what we don’t understand. That’s why it can be frustrating to listen to the masters of organ improv.

If you’re learning organ improvisation, you’ve probably had someone tell you, “Listen to the greats: Olivier Messaien, Marcel Dupre, Olivier Latry….”

The greats are inspiring. Their music is uplifting. I can only imagine how they would draw me more deeply into the mysteries of the Mass if I were fortunate enough to have them playing at my parish (rather than listening to myself so much).

But from a learning perspective, listening to the greats has its limits. Take this masterful improvisation by Olivier Latry, for example:

Wow, right? But as an organ student, can you emulate this on any level? Probably not. It would be difficult even to dumb this down into a template you could use for your own exploration.

This is why we organ students need more accessible masters from whom to learn. We seek organists whose creations are easier to unpack and analyze, and whose artistry seems a bit more “in reach.”

Where can we find these musicians? I’m happy to share that you can sample the improvisations of dozens of organists at OrganImprovisation.com:

http://www.organimprovisation.com/organists/

Among the site’s many resources are pages that offer profiles of organists from around the world and provide links to their improvisation recordings on YouTube.

Now, some of the organists on OrganImprovisation.com do play at too high a level of sophistication for the student organist to analyze. But many sound more like very polished parish musicians. Spend some time sampling what they have to offer. Bookmark your favorites. And return often for fresh inspiration. Happy practicing!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: organ, organ improvisation Last Updated: July 15, 2023

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About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is clear the Church is facing a grave crisis. Under the name of “the new Church” and “the post-conciliar Church,” a different Church from that of Jesus Christ is now trying to establish itself: an anthropocentric society threatened with imminent apostasy which is allowing itself to be swept along in a movement of general abdication under the pretext of renewal, ecumenicism, or adaptation.

— Cardinal Henri de Lubac (29 August 1967)

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  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?

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