In Defense of the Organ Postlude (Peter Kwasniewski)
  • Hymni_Veri_Valoris
    Posts: 12
    But there are people who are apparently bothered by postludes and find them a loud distraction that stands in the way of making a thanksgiving after Mass.


    SOURCE: In Defense of the Organ Postlude (Peter Kwasniewski)

    So, the next time you are at church and the postlude thunders forth as the Mass ends, don’t try to keep following that devotional book, don’t try to “meditate,” don’t leave for the chattiness of the coffee hour or the seclusion of your car. Just sit and absorb the plenum of sound, the heavenly harmonies, the wordless jubilation. Take up again the thread of thanksgiving when the music fades away.
    Thanked by 4Gavin CharlesW M. Jackson Osborn Felicity
  • doneill
    Posts: 207
    It's a good article. I wonder, though - what to make of the many final pieces from Tournemire's L'Orgue Mystique that don't "thunder forth" at all? Do they still have relevance? I have found they are more successful when played immediately following the dismissal, rather than after a final hymn, when they are anti-climactic.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    I find organ postludes to be most effective either right after the Last Gospel or the Salve Regina (I go to the EF Mass most Sundays back home). They are still great after a hymn (I show up early to listen to the postlude following the previous Mass) but the PIP don't listen...That being said, any improvisation (even someone else's work) on the hymn makes it better. One of the postludes I remember most was Fugue and Variations on Grosser Gott.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    I've done away with the final hymn, postlude only.
    The choir sits quietly through it, the people leaving don't talk above it and...
    I pray with great thanksgiving for these in absolute peace and joy.
    Thanked by 1Felicity
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