Morningside College's Homecoming worship service was this morning. It is done in collaboration with Grace United Methodist Church and, as I am the organist/pianist there, I had the privilege to play the 1967 Holtcamp organ in Eppley Auditorium (photo is above). Fun organ to play. I played Jeanne Demessiuex's Attende Domine for the prelude and Eugene Gigout's Toccata for the Postlude. Also, I played the service music (two hymns--one was based on the Sussex Carol) and for communion (Guilmant's Offertoire in A major Op. 39 no. 2 and Reflection on Pange Lingua by a composer whose name I can not recall at the moment) The Morningside choir and alumni choir also sang two works by Dan Forrest.
After lunch, I spent some time at the piano working on a couple of piano pieces by Charles Dibley that I am planning on playing in October. Most of them are not too difficult, but there is quite a bit of cross rhythms and awkward reaches in places. The sixth one, entitled Dakota Wind, is giving me the most trouble. The notes themselves are not that difficult, but uniting into a single unified work is the problem. Lots of fermatas that hold up the music in places. I'll sleep on it. Also worked on memory for Debussy's Children's Corner. The first three in the suite are pretty firmly in my head. The last three just have a couple spots that need some attention.
My wife had to go in and makeup some hours at her library job, so I went to the Chapel on the campus and practiced on the organ there. Spent a good deal of time (about an hour) woodshedding the notes for the first movement of Hindemith's Second Organ sonata at just under half tempo. Such a quirky piece. Also worked through the Fugue of Bach's A major prelude and fugue BWV 536 to make sure the fingerings would work out. For some reason, every Bach fugue I play always needs the most attention at the place where the subject is heard for the first time in the pedals.....
Ended practice with some time spent on George Boehm's Prelude and Fugue in D minor. I have figured out most of the fingerings through the third section. One more to go.
Going to try and spend some time with my bagpipe chanter after dinner. Then bed.
