Klarinet Archive - Posting 000014.txt from 2010/09

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Organ sforzando (OT, long; was: Cantabile)
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:19:08 -0400


Jennifer Jones wrote (several days ago - I'm catching up with the digests),
>Googleing define: sforzando, I get five of eight definitions define it
as variations of starting with a strong initial attack or accent.
Only one comes up with suddenly loud. I favor the five definitions
using the word initial and accent. The word "initial" emphasizes that
the direction applies to the beginning of a note and accents usually
start with a strong attack and back off, whereas "suddenly" doesn't
say anything about the dynamic later, it just refers to the
transition.>
>
>Does anyone know if my sense fits with the general understanding of these
>words?
>

Yes, the definition in the Schaum Dictionary of Musical Terms is, for
sforzando, abbreviated sf,
>>>Sudden emphasis or accent on a note or chord.>>>
The Schaum definition of sforzando piano, abbreviated sfp, is,
>>>...sudden accent immediately followed by soft.>>>

Jennifer wrote, re. those Google definitions,
>I notice that one of the definitions refers to an organ pedal:>

>>2. In an organ or photoplayer the pedal which, when depressed, will
bring into play one-by-one all (or nearly all) ranks of the
instrument. * Synonyms: crescendo pedal, full-organ pedal.
www.mbsi.org/glossary.php>>

>Maybe Lelia Loban has something to say on that topic? I remember she
has some organ experience.>

Reading about organ sforzandos won't help much with clarinets. My answer to
Jennifer's question got so out of control and off-topic that I sent it to
her privately. I'll spare the list. Anybody who wants to read a really
long, probably really boring description of how a pipe organ works is
welcome to e-mail me privately and I'll inflict it on you, too.

But the short answer is that yes, there's such a thing as a sforzando pedal
for a pipe organ, but no, it isn't really synonymous with cresendo pedal or
full-organ pedal. I'm an organ crank, not an expert, but ... the Google
definition is misleading.

The term full-organ doesn't generally refer to pulling out all the stops on
an organ, unless it's an unusually small organ. Normally, "full organ"
refers to a mixture stop called Organum Plenum or Full Organ - *full* in the
sense that it's a selection of pipes that produces a *balanced* sound that
most people would identify as the basic organ tone.

The crescendo pedal is usually a synonym not for the rare true sforzando
pedal but instead for the commonplace swell pedal. The true sforzando pedal
is an uncommon extra, a tricky mechanism that often breaks down, but the
swell pedal is simple and reliable and most organs have at least one. It
opens and closes shutters over a window into a swell-box, a big wooden box
containing a "Full Organ" mixture: a balanced mixture of pipes, most of them
Diapasons, aka Principals.

Organs have terraced dynamics. All the organ pipes can do nothing but blow
full blast the whole time they're being played, at whatever single volume
they're designed to play, but leaving the swell shades closed, the default
position, muffles the sound of any pipes enclosed in that box. When the
organist sets up other organ stops *plus* the swell, the audience can *hear*
a crescendo because opening the shutters a little bit lets out a louder
volume from that box and opening them all the way, by flooring the pedal,
allows the full volume out of the box. (Think of what people outdoors hear
when you practice clarinet with the windows shut and then what they hear if
you practice exactly the same thing with the windows open.) Easing the foot
off the throttle gradually closes the shutters and mutes the sound again:
decrescendo. Floor the swell pedal fast and then yank the foot off the
pedal suddenly and you've produced a sort of sloppy sforzando.

Lelia Loban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/Lelia_Loban

_______________________________________________
Klarinet mailing list
Klarinet@-----.com
To do darn near anything to your subscription, go to:
http://klarinet-list.serve-music.com