Pasticcio, from Organ Book

from Organ Book by Jean Langlais

Background

Pasticcio consists of five pages, with a couple key changes, and multiple manual changes (with both hands playing on the same manual).

According to Grove's Dictionary, "Pasticcio" is the Italian word for "mess" or "hotchpotch." It also is a "dramatic work or sacred vocal work whose parts have been borrowed, new texts may have been written, or works by various composers combined." In the 18th century Opera composers borrowed their own tunes for their own pasticcios. When asked what he meant by the title, "Pasticcios," Langlais explained, "A pasticcio is a composition derived from other works." According to Ann Labounsky, Langlais may have had a specific model in mind. Nevertheless, it is thought that it "comes from a love of encoding names in his musical themes."."

Langlais frequently "encoded names of those to whom he dedicated works, or was otherwise close to -- Ann, Susan Ferré, Marie, Marie-Louise, Olivier Messiaen, Pascale, Collete Alain, Paf (a dog), Jeannette, Karen Hastings, and so forth. 'He.....sought to reveal, in his music, his innermost desires and thuoghts as well as the names of persons.....By using pitches to correspond to letters of the alphabet, he was able to write names and even complete sentences, in the form of a musical theme."

Here is an example of how Langlais's coding was done:

A     a     i     q     y
Bb    b     j     r     z
C     c     K     s
D     d     l     t
E     e     m     u
F     f     n     v
G     g     o     w
B     h     p     x

The capital letters correspond to musical pitches.

Langlais used a Braille coding in Pasticcio. "What makes the piece earn its title is the fact that the composition has its own idea, straightforward, until bar 54, the change of key, when two new but similar themes are introduced. They are derived from Jacqueline's name and that of her husband-t-be, the composer Giuseppe Englert. All three themes then are operative, a little of this, a little of that. Ann Labounsky has written in a letter that 'Langlais told me how proud he was that he was able to place the two themes exactly together to represent the union of the newly married couple and that this aspect was the governing principle in his working out of the two themes in Braille.'"

Registration and Organs

Swell: (Vox humana); Cymbale, without tremolo

Great: Foundations 8', 4', 2', Mixtures, Choir to Great coupled

Choir: Foundations 8', 4', 2', 1', Mixtures

Pedal: Foundations 16' and 8'

For information concerning the organ of Jean Langlais, visit The Great Cavaille'-Coll Organ

Fingering and Pedaling

There is very limited pedaling, with the most active pedaling being at the last four measures.

Articulation and Phrasing

Played with a light, staccato articulation.

Ornamentation

No ornamentation is required for this piece.

Tempo and Meter

Allegro, quarter note = 116

This piece is basically in common time, with one or two measures of 2/4 on each page.

Scores and Editions

The Service Playing exam requires the use of Elkan Vogel 463-00006.

Recordings

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Free Online

"In Memoriam Jean Langlais," , JEAN LANGLAIS: Pasticcio, from Organ Book [1957] –Jean Langlais (1738 Müller/Sint-Bavokerk [St. Bavo Church], Haarlem, The Netherlands) InterSound 2001, Pipedreams [1]

Jean Langlais - Organ Book: X. Pasticcio. Performed by Dragan Trajer on virtual Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll organ of Notre-Dame de Metz. [2]

Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

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Notes

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