Oraison (from Contrastes) - Denis Bédard

This piece is the 4th movement from Denis Bédard's Contrastes. There are 6 movements in this collection:

1. Aria
2. Fanfare
3. Choral
4. Oraison
5. Humoresque
6. Tarentelle

The word Oraison means prayer. It actually comes from the Latin word: oro / orare "to pray". You may know that I'm a big Bédard fan and I play a lot of his music. Some organists actually say (tongue-in-cheek) that I should be the first to perform his complete works! Perhaps I would be the first in Australia? The late Marie-Claire Alain, a famous French female organist, has played the complete works of JS Bach (though a good handful of living organists have done this now).

I first discovered Contrastes whilst listening to organ music on YouTube at work. It came up on the auto playlist and it intrigued me. To my surprise, it was a recording by @carsoncooman (an American organist who I'm currently syndicating on @music.syndicate). The work was actually commissioned by Carson himself!

The video you are watching today was recorded during Communion at Mass. You will hear a lot of background noise, made by some young children (probably mine!), with shrieking throughout. The last two movements of Contrastes are probably not appropriate for use in a liturgical situation. Firstly, we don't want to be playing something humorous (Humoresque) and a Tarantelle would be totally inappropriate as a postlude, because it represents a folk dance with tambourines! These movements (or entire suite) are best suited as a recital or concert work.

I hope you enjoyed this meditative piece featuring the gorgeous 8' Swell Gedact. I move to the Great, but I've actually got the Sw to Gt Super coupler which effectively turns it into a 4' Flute.

Yours truly,
@contrabourdon

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