The Regent Classic Organ Music Tutorial Series launched in 2016. During this first year we picked some of our own favourite organ pieces to demonstrate in a series of videos. Jonathan plays on a bespoke private client organ that has 84 speaking stops. It is a 3 manual instrument but with a floating solo division.
See the Organ Music Tutorial Series overview for links to more organ videos and information about them. There you will also be able to read more about Jonathan Kingston and the organs being played in this series.
Trio Sonata by J S Bach
The baroque trio sonata usually calls for four instrumentalists, two of which are assigned to the bass line, and it is only at the end of the 18th century that the designations of “trio” and “quartet” start referring to the number of instruments required.
The Bach Organ Sonatas are thus trios which ask for one musician to play on two keyboards and pedals. In the six Sonatas, the counterpoint is woven first and foremost between the two upper voices. These two wonderfully supple lines, harmonically supported by a bass line which occasionally suggests the dance rhythms of the gigue or the sicilienne, engage in dialogue, exchange motives, at times inverted, and constantly interweave.
While I do not think any of the sonatas call for more than 3 notes at any one time the compositions are wonderfully rich and extraordinarily difficult to master as the parts so often move in contrary direction and often overlap. They are true masterpieces that emerge from utter simplicity of form and economy of notes.
You can download the midi file of the performance.
If you would like to watch the video tutorial right now – here it is:
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