I’ve attended some memorable workshops given by Dan Moult. He is excellent on practice and performance psychology, and I now try and stick to his insistence on total discipline right from the start of learning a piece – because his own playing is so wonderfully virtuosic and convincing. Born in Manchester, he studied at Oxford (gaining his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists with three of the top playing prizes, plus the joint award of the University’s John Betts Organ Scholarship ,while he was there). Among his subsequent posts he spend seven years as Organist and Assistant Director of Coventry Cathedral, and five years as the Artistic Director of the London Organ Day. He is much sought after as an educator: publishing several music editions for students, and writing frequently in the music press. As a concert artist he performs around the world, and has many recordings to his credit – visit his website for lots more details and clips of Daniel in performance.
Dan’s next London recital is on 29th November 2014 at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church. Full details below – in the meantime here are his answers to my five questions:
Which piece of music are you studying at the moment and why?
I’m learning two new, lighter pieces as “fillers” for some 2015/16 concerts – Harold Britton’s variations on I’ve got rhythm and Ad Wammes’ Toccata chromatica. I’ll soon start to learn the formidable toccata by Patrick Gowers, as well as resurrect some of my core concert pieces for upcoming events.
What has been your best experience as an organist?
That’s very difficult indeed! A recent very enjoyable experience – and perhaps the strangest, too – was to get an invite to play in the town of Moult! After checking that the email invitation was not a friend’s practical joke, I went to give a concert on a beautifully restored small eighteenth century French organ. They even laid on a reception in the town hall afterwards, with some delicious local calvados!
What has been your worst experience as an organist?
Again, there’s a lot of competition for this one! I think it was probably a lightning strike during the organ voluntary of a live Radio 3 choral evensong a few years’ back. The blowers were not affected, but the sequencer reset itself (going back to zero). I had a few minutes of extreme stress trying to work out how to get back to my carefully laid plans, whilst being conscious of the red light in the console mirror… Horrific!
What’s the best piece of advice you were given by an organ teacher? (and who was it?)
I’m so grateful to all my organ teachers, all of whom offered wonderful advice and insights at different stages of my progress. Perhaps the best was offered both by Jacques van Oortmerssen and Gordon Stewart – speeding something up really is the easy bit (for the most part): truly perfecting something at very slow practice speeds is where success lies.
What would be your own best piece of advice for student organists?
Further to Jacques and Gordon’s advice, I might add that when you practice slowly, it’s not just about achieving right notes: you must be constantly reviewing your physical and mental relaxation, too. I would also urge student organists to keep an open mind musically, at all times!
NOTE: This is a recital in 2014 which has since taken place – but I thought you might be interested in the programme, so I’ve left it in.
Daniel’s next London recital:
BLOOMSBURY CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2 8EP
SATURDAY, 29th NOVEMBER 2014 at 4:00pm
Programme:
J.S. BACH (1685-1750)
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C (BWV 564)
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS (1835-1921)
Benediction Nuptionale
JULIUS REUBKE (1834-1858)
Sonata on the 94th Psalm
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS (arr. Guilmant)
Le Cygne
AD WAMMES (b.1953)
Toccata Chromatica
IAN FARRINGTON (b. 1977)
Live Wire
Admission free – retiring collection. Organ concerts at Bloomsbury are always followed by an excellent buffet afterwards.
