Organ/violin pieces?

Stella611

I would love some suggestions for organ/violin duet music (or pieces adapted for organ/violin), and/or organ solo piece suggestions, especially things that would seem fitting for either communion or postludes, during the Christmas and Easter seasons. What are your favorites?

Also, has anybody ever played an organ reduction of Corelli's Christmas concerto? And if so, what score do you use? I really like the version of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIdKz4ZjxfI&list=PLu27XVN-zDEQIuGePAD33CpD759XKyQo3&index=20.
I really wish I knew what score he used!

Chris Garton-Zavesky

Kimberly,

First, an answer to the question you posed: Le Cygne ... but the composer escapes me. I had to endure it repeatedly for 4 years. (I say endure not because it's an evil piece, but because it wears thin after a while.)

Second, assuming this is for the OF, I think you'll run into two roadblocks, from very different quarters.

a) from the "the people have to be doing something all the time" group, an organ/violin duet detracts from the people's participation.

b) from the "Sing the Propers, already" coetus, organ/violin doesn't work because the violin is usually unsuited to the liturgy. (There are exceptions, but a general rule would apply here).

Stella611

I should clarify: this is for an FSSP parish. I am especially looking for some ideas for Christmas midnight mass with organ/violin (I would like a piece possibly as an interlude during our hour of carols before midnight mass begins; the violinist will be accompanying alot of Christmas carols w/ the organist as well, that's his main function), and then just organ for the morning mass, and we will have the organist for the whole Christmas season and feast days therein.

I usually have just let our organist play what he wants, knowing that our priests prefer more "conservative" selections (so usually no organ music characteristic of post-1900), but as our music program grows, would like to give him more direction regarding the instrumental music for the festive seasons.

He subs for us regularly, but sometimes plays the same things on different occasions; we don't have an in-house organist, and instrumental music is not my area of knowledge.
So, with that said, looking for suggestions!

canadash

I'll be following this post. We have an in-house violinist and a cellist (though carrying and storing the cello in a small loft is sometimes difficult) and it would be nice to have instrumental music as you mentioned above.

Stella611

canadash, I can say that I've found there are some duets by Rheinberger for violin/organ. But they aren't quite what I'm looking for, especially for postludes. I want something more festive for that.
Here's the selections by Rheinberger:
Six Pieces for Violin and Organ Op. 150
Suite for Violin and Organ Op. 166.

You can find them on youtube to listen to.

Abbot Jonathan Coel

Might I suggest you consider pieces by Biber. He wrote some very great music for violin with organ accompaniment that are somewhat religious. They can be though somewhat challenging and a cello can play the bass line of the accompaniment if desired. You can hear them on youtube. The music can be found on the IMSLP Free Music site, just look up the composer Biber.

http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Biber,_Heinrich_Ignaz_Franz_von

There are many violin / continuo pieces from the late Renaissance and Baroque eras that would be suitable.

francis

Much early music works with violin. I do this all the time with the liber organi books.

M. Jackson Osborn

Many sonatas for violin (or flute, or so forth) and continuo by Bach, Handel, and other composers of that period can work very well with organ. Sometimes, in editions realised for piano, one has to further edit so make the accompaniment more organistic and less pianoey, but this is not a great obstacle. These work very well as preludes, as wedding music - even, carefully chosen, for funerals.

francis

Kimberly:

I went through the first two volumes and picked out some music that works great for org and vln. Here you go.

Richard Mix

We've often used Ann Callaway's Silent Twilight as an introduction to the post-communion Silent Night (it ends in B-flat). I can message a private email if you like. There's also a spookier take on Stille Nacht by A. Schnittge for violin & piano.

The local San Francisco AGO newsletter printed a manualiter arr. of the first allegro from Op. 6 No.8 some years ago; the Depolo keyboard score at IMSLP seems to be something else.

Jeffrey Quick

Just throwing titles out there for pieces that might work...I haven't heard or looked at these, so this should not be considered an endorsement.

Leo Sowerby: Ballade for English Horn and organ (has alternative violin part) ; Poem, H. 258
Max Reger: Romanze in G major
Gardner Read: Christmas pastorale op. 124 (might be too chewy)
Marco Enrico Bossi: Adagio, op. 84 (Bossi's stuff deserves more play than it gets)
Theodor Kirschner: Vortragsstucke (or 2 pieces), op, 91
Karg-elert: 2 pieces, op. 48b
Albert Becker: Adagios op. 20 and Op. 70
Ravanello: Andante
Hans Hiller: Andante religioso
Gustav Jensen: Arioso und rondo patetico, Op, 40
WILLIAM Lloyd-Webber: Benedictus
La Tombelle: Epithalame
Philipp Rüfer: Stücke, op. 36

Romantische Musik : für Violine und Orgel. Bd. II, Leichte Werke / herausgegeben von Kurt Lueders/ St. Augustin : J. Butz, 2004

Much of the above is core romantic, the rest conservative 20th c. I'd stay away from the Saint-Saens Swan/ Massenet Meditation school of things, myself.

CHGiffen

The Sowerby that JQ mentions is lovely ... I only know it as an English horn piece, though.

davido

The Mozart church sonatas are great if you have two treble instruments. Baroque solo sonatas are usually the way to go.
Canzonas by Frescobaldi are very liturgically suitable, however, it is hard to find continuo realizations for them.

Jeffrey Quick

London Pro Musica has editions with realizations for all the Frescobaldi canzoni.
http://www.londonpromusica.com/pdfs-02/lpm2014catalogue.pdf

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