Kimberly Marshall: An organist's warmup

When meeting Kimberly Marshall, one’s first impression is that of great energy. That impression lingers as one encounters her presence in written publications and recordings—she seems to turn up everywhere and indeed, she has performed and presented at American and European conventions and conferences, has written entries for Grove and other music dictionaries, recorded organ music from the 15th to the 21st centuries, and even made videos to illustrate exercises for organists (Marshall kindly produced one for The Diapason).

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Kimberly Marshall began organ studies in 1974 with John Mueller at North Carolina School of the Arts. After studies in France with Louis Robilliard (1978–79) and Xavier Darasse (1980–81), she returned to North Carolina and completed her undergraduate studies with Fenner Douglass in 1982.

With a full scholarship from the British government, she pursued graduate studies at the University of Oxford (1982–86), earning a D.Phil. in Music for her thesis, Iconographical Evidence for the Late-Medieval Organ. During her time in England, she won first prize at the St. Albans Organ Interpretation Competition in 1985, leading to a contract with the BBC and a recital on the Royal Festival Hall series.

In 1986, Marshall was appointed assistant professor of music and university organist at Stanford, where she presided over organs by Fisk (dual-temperament, 1984) and Murray Harris (1901). Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991, she continued her research and teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia. From 1993–96 she served as dean of postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, developing a new master’s degree in advanced performance studies, awarded in conjunction with King’s College London. 

From 1996–2000, Marshall was a project leader for the Organ Research Center in Göteborg, Sweden, where she taught and performed. Under the aegis of GOArt, she organized the first conference ever devoted to organ recordings, “The Organ in Recorded Sound,” and has edited its proceedings.¹ Appointed to Arizona State University in 1998, Marshall (now Goldman Professor of Organ) oversees the graduate organ studio and presides over the instrument by Paul Fritts (1992). 

Kimberly Marshall has performed and done research worldwide, from a sabbatical in Pistoia, Italy, researching early Italian organ music, to performing on many historic organs, including those in Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark), St. Laurenskerk, Alkmaar (Netherlands), the Jacobikirche in Hamburg, and the Hildebrandt instrument in Naumburg, Germany, which Bach examined in 1746. She has also presented concerts and workshops on early music in Sweden, in Israel, at the 2007 Early English Organ Project in Oxford, and at the Festival for Historical Organs in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Marshall’s publications reflect her eclectic interests. Examples include Rediscovering the Muses (Northeastern University Press, 1993), her edition of articles on female traditions of music making; entries for the Cambridge Companion to the Organ (1998), the Grove Dictionary of Music 2000, and the Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2012); and her anthologies of late-medieval and Renaissance organ music (Wayne Leupold Editions, 2000 and 2004). 

Marshall’s recordings (over a dozen, at this writing) cover a wide spectrum, including music of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance, French Classical and Romantic periods, and works by J. S. Bach. Her most recent CD, The First Printed Organ Music: Arnolt Schlick, celebrates the music of Arnolt Schlick on the 500th anniversary of its publication (2012). A CD/DVD set, A Fantasy through Time (Loft, 2009), featured the organ fantasy genre across five centuries, from Ferrabosco and Sweelinck through Jehan Alain. Marshall has collaborated as organist for a recording of Chen Yi’s organ concerto with the Singapore Symphony (BIS, 2003). Her recording of works for organ by female composers, Divine Euterpe, includes music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Elfrida Andrée, and Ethyl Smyth.

While at Stanford and the Royal Academy of Music, Marshall gave performances of organ works by Ligeti in the presence of the composer, and she has been an advocate for music by Margaret Sandresky, Dan Locklair, and Ofer Ben-Amots. In a recent article, she described the new Gerald Woehl organ in Piteå, Sweden (“The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist, February 2013, pp. 62–65). Her publications and recordings can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Marshall. 

Marshall also maintains a vibrant website (www.kimberlymarshall.com) and a Facebook page, and she can be found on YouTube performing everything from Christmas favorites to Widor. Marshall also has created exercise videos tailored to the organist, in which she demonstrates moves and stretches that work on muscles most used by organists. In person and even via the telephone Marshall communicates a passion both personal and professional, and we wished to explore the life and work that has ensued from such energy and enthusiasm.

Joyce Johnson Robinson: Do you come from a musical family? 

Kimberly Marshall: My mother is very musical and had a beautiful singing voice, but she had very little formal training. Her mother had played the piano, so when I was seven, she asked if I’d like to study the piano. We didn’t have an instrument in my home until my parents bought an upright piano for my practice.

What ignited your love of organ music? 

I had the great luck to be born in the town where John and Margaret Mueller were teaching. Margaret is a legendary organist, and she became my piano instructor when I was thirteen. She is a master teacher for young musicians, and she opened my ears to the expressive possibilities of the piano. John attended one of my piano recitals and invited me to study organ with him. What an honor! I began my studies with him on the beautiful Flentrop organ at Salem College, and the next year continued my work as a high school student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Dr. Mueller’s enthusiasm and the range of timbres available on the Flentrop organ sparked my passion for the organ.

What works were some of your first favorites?

I was very enamored of French music from the start, Alain’s Litanies and Franck’s Choral III being two of my early favorites.

You received a full scholarship from the British government for your graduate work at Oxford. Is that unusual for an American?

Each year, the British government awards up to 40 “Marshall” Scholarships to Americans to pursue graduate degrees at British universities. The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission was set up in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the United States for the Marshall Plan. Scholars in many fields have studied on Marshall Scholarships—Thomas Friedman, William Burns, and Nannerl Keohane, to name three—but there have been very few musicians in the 60-year history of the awards. Perhaps the common family name helped me, although I’m not aware of any direct link to George C. Marshall.

You had a contract with the BBC. What did that entail?

This was part of my St. Albans prize, and it started with a recording of my prizewinner’s recital that was later broadcast on BBC. The first contract meant that I was on the books, so to speak, and I was later asked to do other projects, such as recordings at Birmingham Town Hall and London’s St. John’s Smith Square.

You’ve done a great deal of work in the areas of medieval and Renaissance organ music. What are the elements of early music that appeal to you?

My interest in early music was sparked by my experience with historical organs while an undergraduate in French conservatories. As a high school student working with John Mueller at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I had focused mainly on Bach and French romantic music, which led me to continue studies with Louis Robilliard at the Lyon Conservatoire. Every day, I practiced Franck, Liszt, and Messiaen on the beautiful Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. François-de-Sales—it was a marvelous time in my life! After gaining the Médaille d’Or in Lyon, I decided that I should spend some time in Paris working on early music. I was planning to study privately with André Isoir, whom I had met during one of the Salem College summer organ academies, and whom several of my fellow French students had recommended warmly. 

I remember arriving early for the Sunday morning Mass at St. Germain-des-Prés, hoping to go up to the tribune with him, when who should appear but Isoir’s colleague, Odile Bailleux, who hurriedly invited me up the stairs so that she could start the prelude. During the course of the Mass, she played a number of French and English baroque pieces. I loved her playing and her personality and impulsively asked if I might study with her. She agreed, and so I began having lessons in early music with Bailleux at St. Germain. I also went to hear Chapuis play at St. Sévérin in the Latin Quarter whenever possible, and I attended Saturday workshops with him and Jean Saint-Arroman at Pierrefonds, near Compiègne, on an organ built in historical style by Jean-Georges Koenig in 1979. This was a terrific initiation into the performance practice of French Classical organ music, which, with Buxtehude and Pachelbel, was the first pre-Bach repertoire I learned.

So you began with French Romantic repertoire and then started playing the tape backwards, so to speak, moving back into French Classical. What specifically appealed to you about medieval and Renaissance works? 

Again, I was inspired to learn about Renaissance music because of my experiences with historic organs. I remember visiting the gorgeous Piffaro organ (1519) in Siena’s Santa Maria della Scala with Umberto Pineschi and Joan Lippincott in the late 1980s. We were enchanted by the gravitas of the 12′ Principale, by the shimmering beauty of the ripieno, and by the delicacy of the Flauto. But Joan and I didn’t know what type of music would have been composed for this instrument—the four-octave compass began at F (without low F# or G#) and was not conducive to baroque music. So we improvised and relished the sounds. Then I started doing some research, uncovering a treasure trove of 16th-century Italian music, including the first “St. Anne” Fugue, composed before 1570! (I published this in my Renaissance anthology for Wayne Leupold Editions, 2004.) 

The desire to demonstrate a historical organ with corresponding repertoire also motivated my research into Arnold Schlick. Years ago, I had the opportunity to perform on the 16th-century Genarp organ in the Malmö Museum, for which Schlick’s music is well suited. I’ll never forget that pedalboard because the sharps were so high that it made playing Schlick’s Ascendo ad patrem meum (with four parts in the pedal) easier than usual, although I had to take my shoes off to do it!

My interest in medieval music obviously did not come from playing historic organs, but rather from my study with John Caldwell at Oxford. As part of my course, I researched the early history of the organ, and I was naturally curious about the sort of instrument that would have accommodated the first surviving keyboard music—the Robertsbridge Codex, circa 1360. Caldwell is an expert on medieval music and English keyboard music, and he encouraged my efforts, giving me insightful suggestions about possible sources and the meaning of obscure Latin references. Another formative influence was my thesis advisor, Christopher Page, who founded Gothic Voices just a year before I began my studies at Oxford. Listening to Margaret Philpot and Rogers Covey-Crump recreating the music of Machaut and Dufay in New College Chapel transported me to new musical horizons. I was taken by the strange beauty of the music, and I wanted to reclaim the organ repertoire from this time. Page was the perfect mentor for me, a scholar/performer of the first order who was able to sell out major concert halls with a program of medieval motets and Renaissance chansons. I was inspired to include 14th- and 15th-century keyboard pieces on my own concert programs. 

Although I have had the chance to perform concerts at Sion and Rysum, I usually play late-medieval music on modern organs, trying to evoke something of its original creation through my articulation and registration. As I tell my audiences, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to medieval replica organs to bring this music to life in the 21st century. What if we hadn’t played Bach’s organ music until we had the perfect Bach organ?

You put a great emphasis on recital program design. Tell us how you approach programming.

I am fascinated by the many different types of organs that have been created and try to share this fascination with my audiences through interesting programming. My concerts often have a theme, such as A Fantasy through Time, a CD/DVD of organ fantasies from the 16th to the 20th century, or Bach Encounters Buxtehude, exploring through organ music the ways in which the Lübeck master might have influenced the young Bach.

I very much enjoy finding ways to link disparate types of music or to help the audience understand the development of a genre or organ type. Organ music preserved from the early 16th century shows the emergence of national styles, as German, Italian, French, and English musicians began exploring the organs they knew. So it’s a great way to demonstrate the distinguishing characteristics of organs in different European countries, many of which also correspond to some national stereotypes of the people in those countries!

Of course, the organ that I am playing must always be the starting point for any program to be successful. I try to show as much of each instrument as I can, sometimes finding unusual combinations that highlight the geographic or chronological variety of the music. If there’s a beautiful Quintadena or Regal, I need to determine how best to feature it. Because the compass required for 14th–17th century music is usually much less than that of contemporary instruments, it is often possible to play pieces up or down an octave, thereby employing different registers of the stop(s) than are normally heard. Building fine programs is like managing a restaurant, determining from day to day the best menus to take advantage of fresh, seasonal foods while also creating a special atmosphere for the establishment. Registering organ music is like being the chef, knowing the intrinsic tastes of each ingredient and finding inspired (and delicious!) ways to combine them.

Has your methodology of programming changed over the years?

Yes, definitely. My changing approaches to programming relate to changing expectations of audiences during the past 30 years. When I started concertizing, I would try to include standards of the organ repertoire, always a major Bach work, another German work (perhaps Buxtehude or Pachelbel), something French (some Couperin, Grigny, Franck, Dupré, Alain, or Messiaen) and at least one “outlier,” some Spanish or Italian music, or a contemporary piece (Albright, Heiller, Sandresky, Ligeti). Organ music was more mainstream then, and audiences knew many of the major works. I would try to give them a sampling of music they would recognize and then add some rarer gems to spice up the program. 

As audiences for organ concerts became less familiar with the instrument and its repertoire, I decided that I needed to introduce verbally the music I was playing. This was difficult for me at first, but I forced myself to do it because I felt that it was important to make a connection with the audience and to tell them what excited me about a particular work. I got a lot of good feedback after concerts, when listeners would say, “I especially appreciated your comments,” or “You really helped me to hear things in the music that I otherwise would have missed.” So I persevered, always planning my comments meticulously and memorizing them. (I later discovered that Winston Churchill had similarly written out his speeches, even including indications concerning their delivery, and memorized them, so that it appeared to audiences that he had a natural gift for public speaking.) 

I found that it helped the flow of my comments to have an overriding theme for the concert, so I began to craft programs that related to a type of music (say, dances or organ fantasias) or that showed influence from one composer or national school to another (such as Bach and the Italian influence or organ music by female composers). With time, the speaking between pieces became easier and more natural, so that now, instead of dreading my time off the bench, I can enjoy looking out at the audience and communicating my ideas to them with words as well as through music. And my themes have become more imaginative, such as “War and Peace” (from early battle pieces through Messiaen’s Combat de la Mort et de la Vie), “Number Symbolism in Organ Music,” and “Bottoms Up!” (a program with my fabulous tuba colleague, Sam Pilafian). Sometimes I am asked to prepare a specific type of program for an event. This happened when I was invited to perform an organ recital for the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music in London two weeks before the 2012 Olympics. The festival organizers were using the theme of competition, so they asked me to recreate the competition between J. S. Bach and Louis Marchand that was planned but never took place. I believe that such a programmatic approach can help bring in new listeners for the organ as well as add new dimensions to the experience of organ enthusiasts.

Let’s discuss your teaching. How do you present historical contexts to your students? 

I have a three-pronged approach to this. We study surviving treatises and instruments to learn from them about playing styles. We then develop interpretations of pieces from different national schools and time periods at a specific organ, determining ways to adapt the historical material to real-life performance situations. Finally, I draw links between what is happening in a specific organ school and what was happening in the broader musical, political, and social contexts in which the music was composed. It is vital for my students to listen to great performances of vocal and instrumental music from each of the traditions we study, so that they have a sound ideal in their minds before they try to achieve it at the organ.

How do you integrate web-based information with traditional bibliographic research methods?

The most important web-based information in my teaching is the availability of fine recordings through the Internet. Our university subscribes to the Naxos Music Library, and my students are constantly finding new sources of recorded music (and not only organ recordings!) to inform their interpretations. I also investigate historical recordings as part of my research (as seen in my article in The Organ in Recorded Sound), so I use the International Historic Organ Recording Collection (www.ihorc.com) and the Centre for History and Analysis of Recorded Music at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/music/research/proj/charm/) whenever relevant to a student’s interests. 

I think my students teach me more about what’s out on the Internet than I teach them, although I certainly add a critical element that can be lacking for the generation that grew up on Google. Just because there’s a video on YouTube doesn’t mean that it’s an authoritative performance! Of course, my students and I benefit daily from music editions available through the Internet, especially public domain scores through IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project: imslp.org). Again, one must exercise critical judgment about the context of the original edition, since many reflect the scholarship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is why they are in the public domain. In some cases the scholarship was very sound, but new sources and approaches during the second half of the 20th century may make old editions obsolete, so one must be cautious and not just latch onto the first edition that pops up in the browser.

Given the ubiquity of electronic devices and technologies, do you find that students have more trouble maintaining focus and patience? 

Since my teaching is specialized, I haven’t encountered this problem directly, but colleagues who teach more general courses often complain of the need to present material in “sound bytes.” Organists have great powers of concentration, so I’m not sure that my students are a barometer of what may be happening more generally with regard to attention spans in our culture. 

Do your students embrace early music as much as you do? 

Some of them do; others don’t. And that’s just fine, because each student is unique and has individual passions that I try to develop through my teaching.

You not only work to stay in shape yourself, but you have created short videos to educate others on ways of preventing pain and injury. What led you to promote exercises for organists? 

I am very committed to helping organists stay fit and able to play the organ without pain. To this end, I have been developing some simple exercises to combat the typical problems encountered by organists spending prolonged periods of time in bad positions.² By working to open the chest and strengthen the rhomboids—upper back muscles— it is possible to correct for the kyphosis (humped upper back) that often plagues organists. It is also necessary to make the hips more flexible and to strengthen the abdominal wall in order to have a stable core that grounds the body. [Kimberly Marshall has created a video for The Diapason demonstrating warmup exercises. Visit TheDiapason.com and look for Diapason TV.] With a strong core and good position at the organ, the arms and legs can move freely, enabling one to play for hours without repetitive strain.

How did you decide on the muscle groups to work on, and which exercises to do? Did you work with an exercise physiologist?

I have practiced yoga for about 15 years, and this has helped my flexibility and mindfulness. Breathing deeply is the key to so many aspects of our mental and physical performance, so opening wind passages and the diaphragm is top priority! I tend to gravitate towards restorative, yin poses in my yoga practice, so I try to balance that with strength training, especially for the core, shoulders, and arms. For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a fabulous trainer, Larry Arnold. Larry has his own gym in Phoenix and a unique approach to fitness that is rooted in his understanding of the body (his website is www.labodycraft.com). He trains athletes at a very high level, but he’s amenable to improving body function in other activities. I am definitely the first organist he’s worked with, and I’ve taken students to see him as well. We all have the same issues!

Since you have a heightened awareness of physical issues, do you assess any weaknesses with your students?

Yes, my students are often kyphotic (hunched upper back), and they usually have tight lower backs from the strength required to support themselves on the bench during hours of practice. These are problems affecting almost all organists, which is why I developed simple exercises to help offset them. Usually, organists need to strengthen the upper back (so that it holds the shoulders down and back, creating a long, free neck) and to strengthen the abdominal muscles (so that the opposing muscles in the lower back can loosen). Individual students sometimes have other physical issues, so I try to create ways to help them with alignment, strength, and/or flexibility. 

How do you maintain your own fitness when you’re traveling and concertizing?

This can be a challenge, but mainly because of time constraints. Preparing concerts takes a lot of time and energy, so I focus on flexibility rather than strength training when I am touring. I maintain good flexibility through stretches and poses that don’t require lots of space or special equipment, and I’ve even become rather adept at exercising on the plane. You can do small abdominal crunches in your seat to help stretch out the lower back. Neck, shoulder, wrist and ankle rolls help to keep the circulation going and to prevent muscle strains, especially on long flights.

You heartily embrace new technology.

Although I’m of an older generation that actually did research in libraries looking at manuscripts and books, I have learned to embrace several aspects made possible by technological advances in the last 30 years. Scanning projects have made immediately accessible many of the musical sources that used to require air travel and long library stays. Manuscripts, music prints, and recordings are now accessible at the click of a mouse, and this facilitates aspects of my work. Nevertheless, one must be careful to verify information retrieved on the web and to develop a critical sense about the integrity of certain sites. 

I am currently collaborating with David Rumsey on a 4,000-article Encyclopedia of the Organ that provides articles on the history of the instrument in specific countries, with cross-referenced articles giving composers’ biographies, technical information, and organ specifications. We are investigating different online platforms for this in order to make it more user-friendly and to keep it updated. With the speed made possible by new technology, today’s readers are too impatient to look up articles in a book, so we hope to provide links that will pop up almost as quickly as the brain initiates the curiosity to investigate.

Of course, I am delighted to be able to share my own work through online articles, recordings, and videos. The facility of communication makes it easy to get feedback and to carry on stimulating discussions with colleagues. Very importantly, I can now give lessons via Skype with organists who want some tips on playing specific pieces or types of repertoire. This is a great boon to disseminating ideas and to giving instant feedback to those who are experimenting with new techniques.

How have the Skype lessons worked out? 

Remarkably well! I was a bit skeptical at first about whether I would be able to have a good idea of someone’s playing through Skype, and then to convey my ideas back to them. But I have found that Skyped lessons can provide an effective way for me to hear someone playing a specific repertoire and to give them input on aspects of performance practice, such as articulation, ornamentation, and rhythmic alterations. I would not recommend Skype sessions for feedback on registration when preparing a recital or as a substitute for an ongoing relationship with a teacher. There is nothing better than being in the same acoustical environment when working together. But Skype enables me to introduce someone to a new style of playing or to help him/her prepare a specific piece without having to make the trip to Arizona. (In some cases, it inspires them to make the trip later!) 

You have worked all over the world. Are you multi-lingual? If so, do you find it helps your work (or if not, does that hinder you in any way)? 

I am a firm believer that organists should know several languages, and as my students will attest, I make linguistic study a priority. Reading is of course the most important aspect for research, and I help prepare my students for reading exams at ASU. When we travel together to see organs in Mexico and Europe, they see how important it is to be able to speak the local language when I am setting up meetings with colleagues, working out travel details, teaching and introducing my concert programs in Spanish, French, Italian, or German. I haven’t yet mastered Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, but know enough to read about organs in them. I think Mandarin is going to become an important language for the future, as we work to foster an organ culture in China. I’ve been there twice, and I am optimistic about the potential for developing Chinese organists and an enthusiastic following for them.

Is there any other area or type of music that you would like to tackle next? 

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been relishing the opportunity to play a wide repertoire on many different types of organs. I’ve become known for my work in early music, which is very gratifying, but I don’t want to be confined to that, unless, of course, the organ I am playing dictates a specific style of music. I’ve always played romantic and contemporary music, so I’m coming back to some of the 19th- and 20th-century works that dominated my student days as an organist. Hopefully I’m playing them now with greater insight resulting from the intervening musical experience! What excites me about playing the organ is the amazing variety of sound possibilities available. What other instrumentalist can play 14th- and 15th-century music in Sion, Switzerland, and a month later (and 3,000 kilometers north) perform music from a seven-century spectrum on a futuristic organ with over 100 stops?³ 

Perhaps the most extreme example of this “stylistic schizophrenia” occurred this past summer. At the end of June 2014, I performed during the Boston AGO Convention on the Fisk organ at Wellesley College, in ¼-comma meantone tuning with short octave and split keys. Six weeks later, after a wonderful stay in southern France, I appeared on the Spreckels Organ in San Diego’s Balboa Park, complete with tibias and percussion, playing a program of music by Parisian composers. And that, in a nutshell, is why I love the organ. Vive la différence! ν

Notes

1. The Organ in Recorded Sound: An Exploration of Timbre and Tempo. Göteborg: Göteborg Organ Art Center, 2012. Available from the author or from www.ohscatalog.org.

2. Some of these may be found at https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyMarshall.
organist. 

3. “The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist (February 2013): 62–65. 

Kimberly Marshall’s forthcoming recording, A Recital in Handel’s Parish Church, features concerti and passacaglias performed on the new Richard-Fowkes organ in St. George’s, Hanover Square, London. All tracks will be available online in September.

“Get off the bench and give me ten!”--An investigation of the benefits of physical stretches on organ performance posture

Patrick J. Hawkins is currently pursuing his DMA degree in organ performance at Arizona State University, Tempe, where he is the graduate teaching assistant for the organ department. His articles have appeared in The American Organist and in the Music Educators Journal. As a concert organist he has recorded works of J. S. Bach for the Arkay Records label and has appeared in recital throughout the USA, Europe, and in South Korea. He is organist/choirmaster at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Physicians and music teachers have recently encouraged musicians to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. Wolff (1999)1, writing in his monthly “Medical Corner” for the I.T.A. Journal, suggests that one of the main benefits of a regimen of strength and endurance training for musicians is balanced and efficient performance posture and increased energy. These benefits, he argues, will allow musicians to have increased stamina for performance-related tasks. Roberts (2000)2, a trombone instructor and an active runner, reports that out of 211 participants surveyed at the 1991 Keystone Brass Institute only 49.3% of the participants said that they exercised on a regular basis, and 82.1% of these individuals were under the age of 40. Since this survey, Roberts has continued to encourage his pupils and other professional musicians to add Cyclic Incremental Over-training into their exercise program. Sirbaugh (1995)3, like Wolff and Roberts, believes that both aerobic and anaerobic exercise is vital for musicians, especially singers who need stronger abdominal muscle conditioning in order to perform bel canto literature.
Martial arts are a popular form of exercise that music teachers are encouraging their pupils to incorporate into their schedules. Bruenger (1994)4 believes that T’ai Chi helps in brass playing, as this martial art requires an awareness of the area known as the “tant’ien” located a few inches below the navel in the lower abdominal muscle region. The development of these muscles through exercises and drills, he feels, will aid in better control and production of air needed during a brass performance. Benson (1998)5, a pianist, advocates the martial art known as Qigong. Following a personal injury involving a broken arm, she used Chinese Qi (life) gong (energy) as a type of physical therapy. Benson reports regained strength and flexibility, a loss of bursitis, and lowered performance tension due to a 20-minute daily exercise routine. Similarly, Roskell (1998)6 believes that exercise training using Iyengar Yoga will help keyboard musicians. She reports a 20-year improvement in her personal back pain and thumb tenosynovitis through the use of this yoga exercise. Roskell has taught a “Yoga for Pianists” class at the London College of Music, and claims that this martial art is aimed at improvement of alignment, coordination, and strength throughout the whole body.
Good posture is vital to keyboard musicians who wish to avoid pain or performance injuries. In a survey of leading piano teachers at conservatories and colleges across the United States conducted by Clavier magazine (1994), Paul Pollei of Brigham Young University said “one of the most awkward examples (of poor posture) is the young child whose legs do not reach the floor and therefore has cramping back muscles and possible injury to structural development” (p. 15). Glaser (1994)7, a former pupil of Schnabel and Casals, states that good posture must begin at the torso and that 75% of weight should rest on the hips and 25% should rest on the feet. Organists, however, are not able to balance themselves using their feet during a performance due to the nature of the instrument. Thus, like the child that Pollei describes, organists too often break their performance posture at the upper and lower back due to weak abdominal muscles. Fishell (1996)8, a well-known organ pedagogue and recitalist, notes in her organ technique manual that bad body position at the console can be seen when an organist’s torso leans or curves back excessively, which can result in technical insecurity as a result of reduced range of motion. She states that such posture breaks can also result in physical pain.
At least two music instructors use physical therapy exercises to aid in posture and the reduction of performance injuries (Wristen, 1996,9 and Steele, 199110). Wristen, a piano teacher whose master’s thesis involved issues of performance injury, says that over half of all musicians seeking medical treatment for performance-related injuries each year are keyboard musicians. In addition to recommending that all practice sessions be broken into 25–30 minute segments followed by a 5–10 minute break, Wristen advocates the use of a 10–15 minute pre-practice warm-up session involving at least seven repetitions each of arm, shoulder, shoulder blade, elbow, palm of the hand, and wrist exercises. Steele (1991), a percussion instructor, also believes in the benefits of physical warm-up exercises before and after practice and performance. A 1988–1989 study by Steele sought to design pre-task warm-ups in correlation to necessary musculoskeletal segments used by percussionists. After videotaping his students’ performances, he invited a physical therapist at Frankford Hospital to review the videotape and to recommend appropriate warm-up exercises for them in order to lesson the risk of performance-involved injuries. The physical therapist suggested that the students should warm up for at least five minutes before each practice or performance using a combination of 18 different exercises: shoulder stretch, shoulder shrugs, shoulder rotation, shoulder-arm windmills, neck-limbering, elbow curl, elbow windmill, shoulder lift, shoulder diagonal rotation, forearm twist, wrist stretch, hand massage, finger wiggle, hand shake, arm shake, back flexion and extension, and trunk rotation.
As there is no reported literature on the effect of exercise on organists’ posture, the purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of physical stretching exercises on three organ performance majors’ posture as demonstrated at weekly lessons.

Method
The subjects for this study were Ji Young, Shiela, and Seung Eun. All three females were organ performance majors at a major research university in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States. Ji Young was a doctoral student from South Korea. She had been physically active for the past ten years and enjoyed swimming, weight training, and attending yoga classes. Shiela was a master’s degree student. Though she reported taking occasional classes in ballet and yoga, her busy schedule prevented her from exercising on a routine basis. Seung Eun was an undergraduate student, and like Ji Young, was originally from South Korea. Seung Eun stated that she had not been actively involved in an exercise program. All three women were proportionate in their height and weight and were under the age of 35.
In December 2001, a certified physical trainer was invited to attend the subjects’ organ class and lecture on the importance of exercise in a musician’s healthy career. The subjects were shown a series of four physical stretching exercises that were designed by the trainer and the subjects’ organ professor to be of benefit to organists in the reduction of postural performance problems: a warm-up “leg over” exercise involving the lower oblique muscles, a lower abdominal exercise, an abdominal plank exercise, and a postural strength/endurance exercise labeled the “prone cobra.” The subjects were told that they would be required to perform these exercises during the next quarter of classes.
At the start of the new quarter in 2002, the three subjects were selected out of a class of ten, as their schedules were flexible enough to allow them to meet with the experimenter once weekly, at the same time, over a period of three weeks. At each session the subjects were asked to demonstrate all four exercises, were tested on the amount of time they could perform the postural endurance test using a stopwatch, and were asked to submit a daily exercise time-log for the week. At the third and final meeting, the subjects were asked to comment if they noticed any benefit of the exercises upon their performance posture or upon their general feeling of well-being.
The subjects’ organ professor was asked to record the number of postural breaks that were noticed when the subjects were performing during their weekly lessons. A tally sheet was used to record these observations, and each subject was recorded at four consecutive lessons. The first observation began before the students began their exercises, in order to record a pre-test score. They were told if they needed to correct their posture at their subsequent lessons, but were not shown their professor’s tally sheets and written comments.

Results
The three subjects’ self-reports of weekly minutes of exercise show that they were able to exercise at least 45 minutes or more per week using the four designed stretches (Figure 1). Both Ji Young and Shiela reported a high level of exercise their first week, because they had been to the gym three times for yoga or weight-training classes. Seung Eun did not attempt any other form of physical activity during the three-week period other than the required stretching exercises. However, she was consistent in the performance of these. Shiela experienced a significant decrease in her amount of exercise during week two, due to illness. While the amount of exercise that Ji Young was able to perform decreased each of the three weeks, her self-reports show that she was the most active of the three subjects in the study.
Each subject was tested weekly on the amount of time that they were able to perform the posture/endurance stretch. Results showed an increase for each of the women over the three-week period (Figure 2). Both Shiela and Seung Eun showed steady improvement at each testing session. Ji Young showed a decrease during week two, because she reported that she had over-trained at the gym the day before the test and had sore muscles. However, her final score showed an increase from her first session.
The subjects’ organ professor recorded the total number of postural breaks observed when each student was performing during their weekly lessons (Figure 3). The first observation occurred before the subjects were asked to begin their stretching exercise program, in order to record a pre-test score. Lesson two occurred on the same day that the students began their exercise routine. The observations show that both Ji Young and Shiela demonstrated a decrease in the number of performance posture breaks over the four-week period. Seung Eun appeared to have remained the same; however, her two posture breaks at lesson four were reported by her professor to have been minimal.

Discussion
The observations made during this study show that all three subjects were able to perform at least 45 minutes of exercise per week using the designed stretches. In addition, all of the women showed an increase in the amount of time that they could sustain the “prone cobra” posture/endurance test, and two of the three subjects showed a decrease in the number of posture breaks during their lessons. While these results are not conclusive, they do suggest that physical exercise involving stretches might aid in the reduction of postural problems observed when playing the organ.
Comments made by the three subjects at their last testing session revealed that all three believed that these exercises would help them over time in avoiding performance-related injuries resulting from postural problems. Ji Young said that her organ professor had noticed a continued improvement in her posture since she began using the stretches. Shiela said, “When I think of posture, it helps me to think of the abdominal muscles working.” This suggests that core muscular conditioning and training might be beneficial to organists, who must support their weight in the pelvic area more than other keyboard musicians. Seung Eun, like Shiela, noticed the most improvement in her abdominal region. She also said that she liked the warm-ups and that they “felt good.”
Perhaps the most interesting finding was that Ji Young demonstrated only one posture break at her third lesson and no posture breaks at her final lesson observation. Furthermore, she spent more minutes per week exercising that the other two subjects. While Ji Young did practice physical stretches, she also reported having taken several yoga classes, and was active in swimming, jogging, and weight training. This seems to confirm Wolff’s (1999) medical recommendation for musicians to use a combination of strength and endurance training to help improve performance posture and stamina. Future studies may wish to compare subjects who use a combination of aerobic, anaerobic, and stretching exercise to those who only use stretching exercise and those who do not exercise at all. Also, future studies should involve a greater number of subjects and should test behaviors over a longer period of time.
On a personal note, soon after this study was made this researcher was involved in a serious rear-end car collision, which resulted in a lower-back injury. With the help of a physical therapist and a personal trainer, who was a certified public school instructor of physical education, I was able to soon regain my normal active practice and performance schedule as a professional organist, music teacher, and choir director. For the past six years I have adopted a weekly schedule of aerobic activity along with weight training and physical stretches. As a result, my back injury has caused me no pain and I feel a greater personal sense of well-being than before my accident. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of exercise, and I encourage all of my musician colleagues to remind themselves to get off the bench and begin their own exercise routine.

Edie Johnson is the assistant organist/choir director at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis as well as seminary organist and instructor of piano and organ at Christian Theological Seminary. She holds the B.Mus. in organ, magna cum laude, from Furman University studying with Dr. Charles Tompkins. She completed both the M.M. and D.M. degrees at Indiana University, where she studied with Dr. Larry Smith. Ms. Johnson is an active recitalist throughout the United States and she also leads workshops on mental rehearsal and imagery for universities and AGO chapters.

The use of mental imagery in the creation of music goes back many generations. Composers such as Mozart, Schumann, Wagner and Brahms utilized mental processes in their compositions, often hearing works in the mind before putting them on paper. Olivier Messiaen claimed that harmonies evoked specific colors in his mind?s eye and the myriad of colors that he experienced influenced his innovative compositions for organ, piano, orchestra and other media. All musicians have experienced mental rehearsal and imagery of music, perhaps unknowingly, in some fashion. You may have had a teacher who incorporated analogies, evoking creative images, or remember a passage of music that persistently remained in your inner ear.

Over the past thirty years, there has been a surge of interest in mental imagery and rehearsal in a variety of fields. In various studies, the majority of research has shown that in learning and retaining a motor skill, mental rehearsal combined with physical practice is much more effective than physical practice alone. An organist may benefit from mental practice both in the initial and later stages of learning. In addition, beginning organ students may incorporate this process; however, it may be difficult for a new organist to imagine actions with which he/she is unfamiliar.

Mental rehearsal and imagery can have great benefits for performers. When incorporated consistently, mental rehearsal may heighten the efficiency of practice time while it also allows muscles to relax and decreases excess tension in the body. This in turn may reduce instances of pain and performance-related injuries. Mental rehearsal creates minute innervations in muscles; it programs and prepares the body by forming a mental blueprint. Mental imagery assists performers in coping with performance anxiety, thus providing a mechanism for increasing quality and consistency of performance.

Mental rehearsal requires consciously practicing sounds, motions and senses in the mind while simultaneously releasing unwanted tension in the muscles. This process heightens the awareness of sensory feedback, and it allows the mind to be in conscious control, thus directing physical actions rather than simply responding to them.

Mental imagery is the ability to develop an image without analyzing its contents. This involves seeing an image in the mind?s eye as if watching a movie. It is important to be able to imagine events from both an internal and external perspective. Mental rehearsal and imagery may be employed both at and away from the keyboard. Learners and performers may employ these techniques within practice sessions or during rest periods, walks, and other monotonous activities.

The most successful and vivid imagery employs all of the senses. Aural imagery can be strengthened by playing a passage, mentally hearing the music and then repeating this until the aural representation is as clear as the actual performance. Visual imagery involves the ability to see objects or events in the mind?s eye. This may entail experiences such as seeing the details of a score as a clear mental image to enhance memory, imagining watching one?s self perform as if sitting in the audience, or mentally visualizing the instrument and movement of the hands and feet from an internal perspective. Kinesthetic imagery indicates imagining the sensations involved in muscular movements. For example, you can employ kinesthetic imagery by thinking about what it feels like to play an exercise or passage of music, focusing on the muscle movements in the fingers, legs, arms and shoulders. If kinesthetic imagery does not come easily, alternate miming the movements of playing with mental rehearsal until the sensation of the muscle movements is vividly imagined. Involving the senses of taste and smell also heightens the imagery experience.

Relaxation

The first step to vivid imagery is learning to relax the body completely. Total relaxation allows you to eliminate external stimuli and become more aware of your inner state.1 Muscle tension is a common concern among organists at all levels. The demands of the instrument produce tension in the neck, back, hands, arms and legs. Utilizing relaxation procedures eases the organist's bodily tension that can hinder the quality of practice and performance. You may use progressive relaxation, tightening and releasing specific muscle groups throughout the body. Another common relaxation technique is auto suggestion in which you mentally speak words, such as "Relax your jaw, release the muscles in your back." A text that provides further insight into benefits and processes of relaxation is Herbert Benson's The Relaxation Response.2

Relaxation is an important initial step when employing mental rehearsal and imagery at or away from the organ. It is also a useful tool when preparing for a performance, to calm pre-concert nerves or to visualize successful performances. Most importantly, relaxation must be practiced under non-stressful conditions before you can effectively employ it in a pressured situation. Benson and other experts recommend incorporating a relaxation session for ten to twenty minutes daily, in order to gain maximum benefit.

Centering

Centering is a means of calming the body and channeling an individual's focus and energy to the task at hand. Sports psychologist Robert Nideffer created this technique for athletes. Don Greene, a sports psychologist who has coached the U.S. Olympic diving team as well as musicians at the Juilliard School and members of major orchestras throughout the United States, has adapted the idea of centering to suit musicians. Centering allows you to shift from critical, verbal thinking to creative, musical thinking. Greene states, " . . . you can picture what you want to do, get a feeling for how you are going to do it, and hear the sound that you'd like to create."3

Greene provides the following guidelines for "Centering Down" in his text, Performance Success.

1. Form your clear intention. Precisely state a goal, for example: "I am going to learn how to center down" or "I am going to carefully practice this pedal solo."

2. Pick your focus point. Greene suggests choosing a focus point that is below eye level, because having the eyes closed or lowered is more conducive to right brain activation. This can be difficult for organists, especially if playing on a four-manual instrument with a high music rack. This could be a good reason for playing from memory or at least only referring to the music occasionally.

3. Close your eyes, focus on your breathing. When first learning to center, it is important to first close the eyes; later you will be able to do this by just lowering the eyes and focusing gently. You should concentrate on breathing from the diaphragm rather than the upper chest. Breathe in through the nose and out from the mouth for three to seven breaths, until entirely focused on breathing.

4. Scan for excess tension and release it. With each inhalation, scan the body for tension from the head to the feet. When exhaling, release the tension. 

5. Find your center. The center of gravity in one's body is about two inches below the navel and two inches into the body. You must maintain the center of gravity in relation to the chair or bench as you center. During times of stress, the sensation of the center tends to rise and the goal in centering is to keep the center of gravity at the proper location.

6. Repeat your process cues. Process cues are concise, "supportive directions" that help you focus on goals once successfully centered. This phrase should be a specific cause phrase, not an effect. For example, when beginning a Bach sonata you might think, "Clear articulation," or before beginning Vierne's Berceuse, you would think, '"rolling legato." These phrases might be instructions that you have heard from a teacher when working on a particular piece in a lesson.

7. Direct your energy. Energy must be gathered at your center and then directed through the body to a specific focus point. If these steps are taken thoroughly you will direct energy and concentration to successful completion of the performance goal.

Focused Concentration

Performers who consistently achieve optimal and peak performances have a high degree of mental quiet. This is a state in which concentration remains steady, avoiding any external interruptions. Within this focused status, the performer lets the physical movements and the music flow freely; however, this mindset can be interrupted by internal criticisms and external distractions. 

When performing, if something irrelevant or distracting enters your mind, Greene suggests asking yourself if this is relevant or irrelevant. Try not to force the mind onto the task at hand, simply think "irrelevant" and pay the distracting thought no mind.4

If you experience problems with distracting thoughts during performance or practice, it might help to play through a piece and afterwards write down all of the thoughts that came into your mind. For example, thoughts concerning job pressures, personal issues or everyday tasks may intervene and decrease the quality of the performance or productivity of the practice session. When you take note of the distracting thoughts and analyze the list, it becomes evident how mundane and irrelevant these thoughts are, and it may help you disregard these items as they arise in the future.5

One of the most distracting elements of a musician?s concentration is the presence of negative thoughts. Many athletes use the technique of "thought stopping" to eliminate both distracting and negative thoughts. When you experience an irrelevant or unproductive thought, briefly attend to the thought, say "stop" out loud and clear your mind. Select a particular thought pattern that you really wish to extinguish. Then close your eyes and try to imagine the situation in which the negative thought generally appears. Finally, practice interrupting the anxiety-producing thought until it is eliminated entirely. This process may take much time, focus and practice; however, the reward will be a decrease in negative thought patterns and distractions to concentration. Discover phrases, such as a positive mantra ("I feel strong and I radiant confidence."6 "I play with clarity and strength.") or emotions that can be conjured to combat negative thoughts during performance. It is important to become aware of self-defeating phrases that interrupt constructive thoughts and replace them with positive ideas and feelings.7

Positive self-talk can greatly increase confidence and thus decrease arousal and anxiety immediately prior to a performance. If you experience nervous symptoms such as a dry mouth, cold hands, nervous stomach or other such physiological annoyances before performances, your first thought is probably something like, "I hate this feeling and I'm not going to do well." This thought pattern can be reframed with the statement, ?"These feelings help give me the energy I need for an exciting performance." It is important to take bothersome or negative thoughts or self-talk and put a positive spin on them.8 For every negative thought that crosses the mind, strive to come up with two positive thoughts.

Performances are rarely perfect, and musicians should strive for optimum performances rather than perfect performances. Every human is fallible, and it is imperative to keep experiences within a realistic realm of accomplishable goals.9 The most beneficial type of self talk is referred to as "realistic self appraisal" with comments such as "I will probably make a few mistakes, but the important thing is relaying the music."10

Mental Rehearsal Techniques

When practicing the organ, postural alignment, proper breathing and relaxed muscles are imperative. When incorporating mental rehearsal, the mind retains your overall physical state along with the music, so it is important to remain relaxed during these portions of a practice session.11

When first developing imagery ability, attain a state of relaxation, decide upon an external or internal perspective, and then practice imaging from one point of view. After proficiency is gained in one perspective, switch to the other. Initially practice visualizing yourself performing from the audience's viewpoint, noticing deportment, energy and emotions from this external perspective. Next, imagine what it feels like to be at the organ playing, noticing all details of the experience: body position, muscular contractions, emotions, etc. You must practice the two perspectives independently at first; later, they can be combined. As you become more experienced in imagery, you can quickly shift from an internal to an external perspective.

Decide in advance on one element upon which to focus. This can be incorporated with centering and setting up a "process cue," a simple phrase or word that summarizes the immediate performance goal. For instance, you should decide if you are going to focus on a single element such as muscle tension, precise notes, expressive timing or piston changes.12

When initially learning a skill, external imagery may be the most efficient technique. For example, a beginning organ student may benefit most from external imagery because he/she is not familiar enough with the muscle movements involved in playing the instrument to imagine them from an internal perspective. When a skill is very comfortable and automatic, kinesthetic imagery may work more effectively. For an advanced player or a beginner, imagery and mental rehearsal work most effectively with consistent practice.

Three Step Practice Loop

Mentally imagine the ideal sound, play the passage, and then analyze the result. Did the physical performance match the inner ear's model?13 This is a wonderful idea for musicians of all levels to put into daily practice. You may incorporate this technique as a teaching tool within lessons by asking the student's reaction to a performance, determining what element(s) require alteration and reminding him/her to repeat this process during practice sessions. By focusing the learner's mind and ear, this time-efficient idea is a great way to sample different interpretations or experiment with various ways to shape a phrase.

Mental Leadership

Mental leadership entails thinking ahead rhythmically while playing a passage or taking silent breaks to mentally rehearse a motif or phrase. When initially incorporating this technique, practice playing a simple example, such as a scale, hymn or exercise from a method book, for either manuals or pedals. At first, it is perhaps best to play with only the hands, or only the feet. While playing, focus on staying mentally ahead by thinking the sound and fingering, or pedaling, of the next note immediately before it occurs. Depending upon the meter and tempo of the passage, you could think ahead with the value of an eighth note, but if playing slow note values, it is possible to think ahead by a quarter or half note. The main goal is to think ahead rhythmically in order to maintain strength in the meter. Initially the organist should think ahead by individual notes, then by measure and finally by phrase. This method encourages you to anticipate both musical and technical issues within a piece and can also enhance sight-reading skills. After you gain proficiency with simple scales or hymns, you may transfer the process of mental leadership to specific pieces. This technique is an excellent way to make the mind guide the muscles and the music, rather than letting motor memory take the lead. 

Example 1:  Mental Leadership

Practice a simple scale, such as the following, using the small notes to quickly think ahead the pedaling for and sound of the next note, moving the foot to its next position as soon as possible.  This promotes anticipating movement and sound while playing so that you are always preparing the body and mind ahead of the music. (Example 1) Employing mental leadership can be especially useful in pattern-based pieces, such as the famous Final from Louis Vierne's Symphonie No. 1. It is beneficial to imagine a brief grouping of notes, perhaps starting with two to four sets of notes and increasing to measures and phrases. During this process, begin by analyzing harmonies, accidentals, and hand position of a short grouping prior to physically playing. Continue by alternating the physical playing and mental analysis, feeling and hearing the next grouping during each rest period.

Example 2:  Mental Leadership

Vividly imagine playing each consecutive grouping during the rests then physically play the grouping. As proficiency increases, you can later imagine groups of eight, twelve, etc. (Example 2) This process allows you to analyze accidentals and to think of harmonies, patterns and sounds allowing the mind to guide the muscles rather than vice versa. Whenever you stop to think through an upcoming passage, it is imperative to relax the muscles, be aware of any tension and release, breathing deeply. Although this process sounds time consuming, when practiced regularly and properly, it may decrease the amount of learning time as well as increase memory and retention of the passage. 

Miming

Mime motions of playing while hearing the sound in the inner ear and paying careful attention to muscular movements. This technique is especially helpful in pieces with large leaps, difficult manual changes, extended reaches or rapid piston changes. It takes much less muscular tension to mime through a passage than it does to physically play.

Example 3: Miming

From Cantabile by César Franck

In Example 3a, mime moving the hands from the Positif and Récit to the Grand Orgue to achieve a smooth, solid transition. In Example 3b, mime the octave movement between the two circled notes, making sure that the first note is released gently and the horizontal arm movement is accurate, settling the fingers over the notes before playing.

Verbal Cueing

Based on your own interpretation or an instructor's suggestions, write cues in the score and speak them aloud as you get to that passage; later, the cues can be imagined rather than spoken. You may employ phrases such as "play legato, articulate before the downbeat, stretch the hand," etc.

Example 4:  Verbal Cueing

From Berceuse by Louis Vierne

When playing this example, you could think phrases such as "rolling legato," "reach up to the F#," "open swell pedal," "close swell pedal," etc.

Modeling

Listen to a recording and imagine the motions involved in playing; do the same when a coach is modeling for you. Imagine that you are a performer that you admire and play through a piece with his/her energy and flair.

Creative Images

Think of the images or characters that the music evokes; play a movie in your mind that corresponds to the piece. The movie can be created while listening to a recording, during physical practice, or while hearing the music in the inner ear. Instead of a movie, one might simply recall evocative images in the mind?s eye such as a regal event during a majestic work, or a playful scene during a lighthearted passage.

Altering Tempos of Mental Rehearsals

It is best to employ mental rehearsal at the same tempo as physical performance; however, there are exceptions when altering the tempo may be desirable. When working slowly on a new piece it is possible to mentally rehearse the piece at the desired final tempo. This can be helpful when working out fingerings and initial technique for the piece. You may also skim through simple sections and mentally rehearse the successful performance of difficult sections or memory posts.

Mental Practice with a Metronome

Increasing the tempo of a new piece may be done by incrementally raising the speed of a metronome. You will have stronger rhythm and improved success with this technique by setting the metronome to the appropriate tempo, hearing the desired passage in your head with precise rhythm, then playing the passage at that tempo. Most likely, by following this technique, you will play with steady rhythm rather than speeding up or slowing down to match the metronome.

Memory

Mental rehearsal can be incorporated in the early and advanced stages of memorizing a composition. You can employ this technique both at and away from the organ. When initially learning a new work, mental rehearsal and imagery with the score (away from the instrument) allow you to analyze the formal structure, harmonic and melodic patterns of the piece. Thorough understanding of a work's structure from an analytical standpoint increases the speed of memorization.

When memorizing a phrase or short passage, play through the phrase looking at the score, then play through it mentally, with eyes closed, noting sounds and movements, and then physically play the passage from memory, continue this process for several repetitions. This technique may seem time consuming, but it can make memory more solid and can allow you to memorize more quickly. The muscles benefit from rest during the mental rehearsal period while the music is reinforced in the mind. It is imperative that you combine vivid aural, visual and kinesthetic images during the mental rehearsal.

When a composition is securely memorized, it is beneficial to mentally play the piece away from the instrument. This can be done sitting or lying down in a state of relaxation, or while on a walk or other monotonous activity. When practicing memory in this fashion, it is important to incorporate all of the senses, visualizing the score and location of performance or practice, imagining all piston changes and dynamic changes, and most importantly hearing the correct notes, phrasings and interpretations in one's inner ear. If there is a passage that cannot be heard internally away from the keyboard, then this is a passage that needs extra physical and mental rehearsal in order to be securely memorized.

Conclusion

Organists and other musicians should continually aim for optimal performances, striving to do their best, yet realizing that live performances are rarely ever perfect. Employing relaxation techniques as well as mental rehearsal and imagery can improve your chances for achieving an optimal level in all performances. Incorporating mental methods assures that the mind stays ahead of the body, thinking beforehand about both technical and musical issues. Initially, you must spend a great deal of time to develop mental imagery and  rehearsal techniques, but the time yields improved quality of concentration and focus, thus saving practice time in the long run.

Mental rehearsal should never be considered a permanent alternative to physical practice. There is certainly no substitute for physically engaging the muscles in practice, but mental rehearsal enhances the cognitive and spatial elements of a task and also allows time for theoretical analysis of the music. Taking time out for mental rehearsal during the physical practice session has the added advantage of giving the muscles time to rest before reaching a fatigued state.

Mental rehearsal and imagery are most effective when they are extremely vivid, involving all of the senses. You must be aware of muscular sensations, sights, sounds, smells and tastes in great detail in order to benefit from mental imagery. One of the most important elements of mental rehearsal is that you relax the muscles before practicing mentally. The brain memorizes muscular tension or release along with the mental representation of the music.

Whether dealing with performance anxiety or individual practice sessions, always be open to new images or forms of mental rehearsal. By employing basic mental rehearsal and imagery techniques, you may find additional methods that work better, or some that are entirely ineffective. It is important to share these ideas with colleagues and students; all can learn from one another. Also, consider writing down newly discovered mental practice techniques or effective images in a notebook or journal.  These ideas can then be applied to other pieces or used for teaching; they may even be employed within other venues such as choir rehearsals or public speaking.

It is always important for musicians to remember successful performances and frequently recall the feelings associated with these experiences, as well as vividly imagining successful future performances. The preparation, emotions and sensations associated with past successes are the foundation upon which future successes are built.   n

In my article "Current Streams in Polish Organ Music"  (The Diapason, May 1995) I mentioned the Organ Sonata of Aleksander Glinkowski as one of the most interesting contemporary compositions written for organ in Poland in the 1980s. Indeed, comparing the Sonata with contemporary organ music in Europe, one can consider it an outstanding piece belonging to the concert repertoire and challenging to every virtuoso of the organ. So why is this piece unknown and relatively seldom performed even in Poland? The answer is simple: the Organ Sonata of Glinkowski, written in the very difficult--for Poland--time of 1981, is still not published. The composer, Aleksander Glinkowski (1941-1991), studied composition at the Music Academy in Katowice and later in Paris. His professor in Katowice, Boleslaw Szabelski (1896-1979), represented the generation of neoclassically oriented composers, but made a spectacular turn to dodecaphony in his last works. In Paris in 1972-1973 Glinkowski studied with Iannis Xenakis. Until his premature death he lived in Katowice, teaching composition at the Music Academy. Very modest, introverted and diffident, he didn't publicize his compositions, so his name is not widely known although Glinkowski represented the best values of Polish contemporary music: intensity, modern technique, fertile sonoristic invention, and sense of form. His Koncert wenecki (Venetian Concert) for oboe and orchestra was awarded a prize in the Artur Malawski Competition in Cracow in 1972.

The organ is constantly present in music of Glinkowski. As a
first attempt he composed Inicjacje
(Initiations) for string quartet, organ and percussion (1966); later, his Passacaglia for organ solo (1968) and Aisthesis for organ and orchestra (1969) appeared. Only the Passacaglia
style='font-style:normal'> was published as Polska wspólczesna
miniatura organowa (Contemporary Polish
Organ Miniatures, PWM Cracow 1975), together with other compositions that
received awards in the Organ Music Competition in Kamien Pomorski in 1968. The Organ Sonata of Glinkowski was performed for the first time in 1983 in Katowice by Zygmunt Antonik, and later, several times it was played in Poland, Germany and Switzerland by both Zygmunt Antonik and Marta Szoka. Everywhere, the audience was strongly impressed by the monumental architecture and unusual character of this music.

For a long time the form of the sonata was strictly
connected with tonality and the rules of tonal harmony. In the 19th century an
intensive expansion of harmony in the romantic sonata had its basis in the
development of instrumental texture--especially in the area of piano music. The
situation of the sonata in the 20th century is much more complicated. But among
so many types of contemporary sonatas at least two ideas still hold: one is the
principle of the transformation of thematic material, and the second concerns
the development of an idiomatic (for any instrument) instrumental texture. The Sonata of Glinkowski demonstrates that even with the most modern musical language (aleatorism, sonorism etc.) it is possible to respect both principles. In this piece the composer examined all specific organ attributes. There are so many organ compositions written recently by composers who are used to thinking about organ technique as the synthesis of a highly developed pianism with the addition of some elements of pedal technique. Glinkowski took the idea of his Sonata just from the organ console--both manual and pedal techniques are inextricably intertwined--considering not only the variety of dynamic and color levels, but also the phenomenon of echo in the church interior--the natural environment for the organ. His Sonata was written for a large tracker organ, the "cathedral" type. Moreover, the composer displayed a real mastery of using rests.

The Sonata is a real
challenge for every concert organist. The highest virtuosity consists of a
variety of manual and pedal techniques, including linear and figurative
configurations as well as many types of chords and clusters. The figurative
element is for Glinkowski not only a part of manual technique, but also a type
of texture. Thanks to this special texture he could obtain new sound qualities.
In general, in the whole Sonata
there are many examples of an extremely fast figurative motion and ostinato
technique. As a result, we have here an impression of a static sound-stream,
although the shape of the figurations varies. These so-called sound-streams, or
sound-strands, make the organ sound similar to the sound quality of electronic
music. The strong influence of the aesthetics of electronic music in
contemporary composition is observed not only in organ music, but the organ,
with its idiomatic attributes, is an especially convenient instrument for these
kinds of experimental ideas.

The two most obvious signs of the influence of electronic
music include: first, the extreme extensions of singular static sound (one
tone, singular chord, or a sound-strand) with no equivalent of the metric or
rhythmic factors; and second, the transformation of sound by adding or
subtracting sound colors (in the organ: registers). The typical electronic
sound-strand that modulates by inducing or by putting out overtones, could be
easily imitated with organ sound and varying registration and articulation. Volumina by György Ligeti is one of the best examples here. In the Sonata of Glinkowski the interior pitches of the sustained sound-strands are changeable; the varying sound color and pitch are a source of internal vibration. Let's examine the beginning of the Sonata. (See Example 1.)

There are here five different figurative models. By very
fast movement--all models are repeated or changed freely--the perception of
individual pitches is nearly impossible. Also, the perception of changes
between models is very difficult, especially since the recommended registration
(upperwork without 8' registers) transfers the whole sound-strand very high.
One can say about this as a special "textural convention" that pure
motion becomes the main tectonic and expressive factor. The term "textural
convention" was introduced by Boguslaw Schäffer, a prominent Polish
composer and theoretician from Cracow, in his fundamental work,
"Introduction to composition" (Cracow 1976). But in the Sonata of Glinkowski the fast, aleatoric figuration, although dominant , is not the only type of texture.

Since elements such as melody and harmony are strongly
limited, dynamics and textural changes serve as the basis for form building.
The three parts of the Sonata are
unified by one fundamental motif. So we have here another example of formal
development. The motivic cell is built of two perfect fifths separated by a
half-tone. For instance: G/D + A-flat /E-flat. This serves as the main material
for all important themes, linear figures, chords, structures etc. It is used as
follows:

1. In its elementary form as a linear structure (Example 2);

2. As a strongly dissonant chord: (Example 3). This
syncopated chordal structure is set against linear configurations. Although
both of the structures are built with the same material, the contrast of
rhythm, dynamics and texture is very emphatic. The half-tone and perfect fifth
are also used for other types of chords (Example 4) and for clusters. The
diatonic, or pentatonic cluster with the ambitus of a perfect fifth displacing
the half-tone steps appears in Part III of the Sonata
style='font-style:normal'> (Example 5).

3. As model of figuration, also in parallel fifths or
doubled in fifths and octaves (Example 6).

4. As an ornament--for instance as a trill (See Example 6).
Two principal structures based on the motif of the fifth-half-tone--vertical
(chords, clusters) and horizontal (for instance: figuration)--organize the form
of the Sonata. They contrast strongly,
especially in Part I; somehow we can find here the reflection of the classical
rule of thematic dualism. In Part II the motif appears only in the line of the
figuration. The whole Part II is unique, a long pedal solo cadenza which
contains three sections. The first and third sections, symmetrically, are
filled by a continuous chromatic course of figuration (See Example 7). This
kind of figuration is typical of the toccata or etude; to this writer, it is reminiscent also of the Final of Chopin's B-flat minor Sonata
style='font-style:normal'> (See Example 8). There, too, the extremely fast
stream of tones is perceived as pure motion. But besides the textural
similarity, both fragments of the Chopin and Glinkowski Sonatas present the same
type of expression: dark and dramatic, if not tragic.

The second section of Part II is very slow, soft and quiet.
The motion stops; instead of a single line of figuration, the static
tone-strand occurs. The 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 tone harmony appears, but also in the
pedal solo. The composer requires here strict legato playing and a very special
registration (4' or 2' flute solo) (Example 9). In this episode the tension is
much lower thanks to the strong dynamic and tectonic contrasts with the first
and third sections, but soon the course of figuration returns.

The very beginning of Part III of the Sonata
style='font-style:normal'> is reminiscent of the character of the slow part in
classical sonata construction. The diatonic cluster d1-a1
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  accompanies the linear theme with a
special rhythmic pattern (See Example 10). Part I refers to the classical
sonata-form, Part II is simply an ABA' scheme (a ternary form), and Part III
develops gradually. The permanent expansion of dynamics, of structural density,
the growing level of textural complication and speed, finally culminate in a
spacious cluster of tutti. This is also the climax of the whole Sonata. At the
ending coda the diatonic cluster and the main motif return again (See Example
10).

Though the Sonata is
a rather long piece (ca. 25 minutes), thanks to its symmetrical form the
listener has the impression of a very coherent, monolithic work. The
contemplative character of the slow parts alternates with the dramatic dynamism
of fast, figurative or chordal sequences. In these ways, the Organ
Sonata of Glinkowski demonstrates the
vitality and attractiveness of sonata principles even for contemporary
composers.

Finally, the notation of the Sonata
style='font-style:normal'> is partly traditional and partly modern. The
pitch--except some clusters--is strictly definite, as are the dynamics. The
duration of individual musical elements is approximate, however. The composer
used some rhythmic patterns, but also the proportional graphic intervals of
space/time and simple indications of duration. Glinkowski did not belong to that
group of composers who precisely specify the registration of their organ
compositions. On the contrary, he left a fairly large sphere of interpretation
up to the organist. He only indicated registration in a few places of the Sonata (e.g. in the slow episode of Part II, as mentioned above). The free choice of registration should be, however, considered together with tempo, dynamics, structural density and, last but not least, with the kind of organ and its disposition. Obviously, the aleatoric and cluster techniques and the notation result in a quasi-improvisatory piece, so any concert organist may create his own interpretation of the Sonata.

Ann Marie Rigler is Interim Assistant Professor of Music at Wayne State College in Wayne, NE, where she teaches music appreciation, applied and class piano, and organ. She holds the B.Mus. in Organ Performance from Southern Methodist University, the M.S. in Library and Information Science and the M.M. in Musicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the D.M.A. in Organ Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa.

Organists from throughout the United States have come to appreciate the consistently informative and thought-provoking annual organ conferences sponsored each fall by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The 20th conference, held September 18-20, 1997, brought together over forty organists to explore the topic of organ pedagogy. The sessions were led by two distinguished master teachers of organ: Dr. Roberta Gary, Professor of Organ and Head of the Division of Keyboard Studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; and Warren Hutton, Professor Emeritus of organ at the University of Alabama.  Discussions of the Alexander Technique (Gary) and "Inside-out teaching" (Hutton), masterclasses, reviews of pertinent literature, a recital, and a concluding panel discussion allowed conference participants to consider the physical and psychological dimensions of organ performance and pedagogy, and to gain insights into the methodologies that have successfully served Professors Gary and Hutton and their students.

Professor Gary contributed to the conference as both recitalist and clinician. Vivacity and clarity characterized her recital of works by Buxtehude, Byrd, Bruhns, Scheidemann, and J. S. Bach, all of which handsomely complemented the resources of the Bedient organ at Cornerstone Church. The secrets of her spirited and engaging performance were revealed the next morning during her sessions on the application of the Alexander Technique to organ study. Assisted by "Fred," a small plastic skeleton whose antics delighted the crowd, Gary explained the relationship between physiology and ease of movement at the organ. She remarked that misuse, not overuse, of muscles is responsible for many of the physical maladies that plague keyboard players. Neck tension, in particular, results in a predictable tightening of muscles throughout the body; tension in the jaw reduces the flow of oxygen to the brain and thus impedes clear thinking. Noting that "the keyboard is flat; you are not," Gary encouraged her audience not to choke the keyboard, but rather to embrace it by using fluid rotational and spiraling movements suggested by the music itself. She cautioned, however, that excessive physical motion can actually compromise rather than enhance the desired effect of a phrase. Gary also stressed centering the body on the "rockers" of the pelvis in order to gain maximum support and mobility on the bench. Because she had been hidden from view by the gallery installation during her recital, she played again several passages from the recital program to demonstrate the correlation between her physical gestures and their musical results.

While Professor Gary focused on physical aspects of organ playing, Professor Hutton probed the psychology of organ teaching and performance. His sessions, entitled "Inside-out Teaching" and "Helping the student to 'own' their own performance," posed numerous questions concerning "Inner Game" concepts drawn from the writings of W. Timothy Gallwey, linear/non-linear and left-brain/right-brain thought processes, performance anxiety, and techniques for invigorating practice and keeping pieces fresh. Citing the teaching of Fenner Douglass and Arthur Poister along with the study of eurhythmics as the greatest influences on his own musicianship, Hutton proposed that integrating elements of both right- and left-brain thinking, understood symbolically rather than physiologically, might well prove to be more effective and liberating for the student than the strongly left-brain approach that tends to dominate organ teaching. He noted, for example, that the very concept of trying implies doubt and a self-conscious effort to compensate for imagined deficiencies, while allowing something to happen stems from the trust and conviction in one's own body and musical ideas that can bring the player to a transcendent state of "total awareness." Teaching techniques involving non-judgemental activities; relaxed concentration with focused action, as opposed to effort; exploring the student's creative capacities through symbols, physical motions, and imagination; and frequently asking questions can all facilitate students' ownership of their performances and expand their critical faculties to develop their own musical ideas. In addition, Hutton challenged us to reflect on how our own actions as teachers might inadvertently stifle the curiosity that a new student brings to their first organ lesson, and he reminded us of how easily we can inflict permanent damage upon a student's psyche.

In discussing creative and innovative practice techniques, Hutton proved to be a wellspring of ideas. Using the Bach B minor prelude, for example, he experimented with playing the opening gesture while envisioning toy soldiers marching, a shepherd in the fields at dusk, a gaseous emanation, and an excited child in a candy store, each of which produced a distinctive musical interpretation. He noted how tinkering with tempos and exploring the various sounds possible on any given instrument can also inspire ideas, while still more insights can arise from awareness of the temperature of the keyboard, the texture of the keys, and other kinesthetic elements of organ playing.  Most importantly, he urged focusing not on mistakes but on the reasons for mistakes; not on correctness and habit but on personal conviction; not on judgement of a performance but on the sheer joy of music-making. When practice occurs in an atmostphere of "confident vulnerability," Hutton observed, then it becomes the arena in which we as players come closest both to the music and to ourselves.

The panel discussion that typically closes the UNL Organ Conference often generates some of the liveliest and most controversial exchanges of the event. Perhaps the most problematic issue for conference attendees involved reconsidering the relationship of knees and heels to the measurement of intervals on the pedalboard. Hutton suggested that organists might visualize intervals rather than slavishly follow the common wisdom of what he called "the things together school." Gary's suggestion to support one's weight on the bench by spreading the legs apart with the thigh muscles rotated inward precludes keeping the knees and heels together. She acknowledged, however, that the great diversity of human body types suggests a vast range of options for physical positions at the organ and encourages a flexible, adaptive approach to teaching body position rather than strict adherence to a prescriptive model. Reminding the audience that organists are, in effect, "athletes of the keyboard," both clinicians advocated the use of isometric exercises to warm up before practicing, and Hutton demonstrated several examples. Finally, both Gary and Hutton stressed the value of gentle humor as an invaluable teaching tool, one that they used in abundance throughout the conference.

Professors George Ritchie and Quentin Faulkner of the UNL School of Music are to be warmly commended for organizing yet another stimulating, well-paced, and smoothly-run conference. Thanks and congratulations are also due to the masterclass participants, primarily UNL students, whose careful preparation and ready responsiveness to new ideas ensured the success of the event. For more information about the upcoming 1998 conference, contact Dr. George Ritchie at the School of Music, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0100.