Organ Tutorial - Psalm 150: “O praise God in his holiness”

Описание: The great psalm of praise, number 150: “O praise God in his holiness”, features as the first in this tutorial series on Psalms and Anthems.

You’ll be able to see Ralph Allwood teaching the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir about the subtleties of performance, and get some ideas about organ accompaniment from the playing of Mark Shepherd.

There are lots of chants associated with Psalm 150, possibly the best known these days being Stanford’s, but the one used here by Ralph and the choir is equally wonderful. Written by the Reverend Robert Philip Goodenough (1776–1826), it’s a double chant in C major that starts each half with a confident unison C major arpeggio, followed by a harmony response.

Ralph exorts the choir to place the emphasis in appropriate places, particularly the word “praise” at the start of each verse. The gloria is omitted at the end because, as Ralph says, the last line goes ‘Let everything that hath breath : praise the Lord’, “and there’s no answer to that, it’s just completely conclusive!”

That final ‘praise the Lord’ is set to a triumphant descant harmonisation that lifts the roof. What a splendid way to start the series!

Read more and watch the video here:
https://viscountorgans.net/psalm-150-...

About this Organ Tutorial Series:

One of an organist’s most subtle and sensitive roles is in the accompaniment of psalms and church anthems. In such an accompanying role, one’s job is rarely to stand out as a performer but to create an underlying musical foundation on which the choir’s singing can build.

For this year’s offering, then, we present a series in which the renowned choir director Ralph Allwood teaches the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir about psalm singing, with three lovely anthems thrown in to the bargain.

They’re accompanied ably by Mark Shepherd on the Viscount Regent 356 organ. You’ll hear Mark exercising all his artistic powers in support of the choir.

Crucially we don’t just show you a performance, but take you through the rehearsal process, during which Ralph explains the pieces, discusses word painting with the choir and organist, and leads everyone towards a good final performance.

For more information about this Organ Tutorial Series and more videos visit our website:
https://viscountorgans.net/organ-tuto...