AGO Concert Repertoire & Programming 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which registration technique is characteristic of the French Classical school and is frequently encountered when performing Couperin or de Grigny?
- Full organ (Grand Orgue) for all movements
- Jeux de fonds only
- Specific combinations like 'Grand Jeu' and 'Plein Jeu' with distinct timbres per movement (Correct answer)
- Continuous crescendo using the swell box
Correct answer: Specific combinations like 'Grand Jeu' and 'Plein Jeu' with distinct timbres per movement
French Classical practice assigns specific named registrations—Grand Jeu, Plein Jeu, Récit de Cromorne—to different movements or sections.
Question 2: The AGO Service Playing Certificate tests which of the following programming skills?
- Ability to perform a full 60-minute recital from memory
- Selection and performance of appropriate music for liturgical service contexts (Correct answer)
- Composition of a four-voice chorale in Baroque style
- Programming a concerto with orchestra
Correct answer: Selection and performance of appropriate music for liturgical service contexts
The AGO Service Playing Certificate assesses competency in choosing and performing music suitable for worship services, not solo recital programming.
Question 3: Which Baroque formal structure consists of alternating tutti and solo sections and appears frequently in transcriptions programmed at organ recitals?
- Suite
- Concerto grosso (Correct answer)
- Fantasia
- Toccata
Correct answer: Concerto grosso
The concerto grosso structure, with its ripieno/concertino alternation, is common in Bach's transcriptions and organ concert programming.
Question 4: A recitalist is planning a program that moves from early music to contemporary. Which sequence best reflects standard chronological programming convention?
- Contemporary, Romantic, Baroque, Renaissance
- Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary (Correct answer)
- Romantic, Contemporary, Baroque, Classical
- Baroque, Contemporary, Renaissance, Romantic
Correct answer: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary
Chronological programming proceeds from Renaissance through Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary periods, giving audiences a historical journey.
Question 5: Dieterich Buxtehude's praeludia are significant to organ repertoire because they:
- Introduced equal temperament to Northern Germany
- Established the free-fantasia style alternating improvisatory and fugal sections (Correct answer)
- Were the first organ works notated in modern staff notation
- Incorporated full orchestra into organ performance
Correct answer: Established the free-fantasia style alternating improvisatory and fugal sections
Buxtehude's praeludia exemplify the stylus phantasticus, alternating free improvisatory passages with strict fugal writing.
Question 6: When selecting an encore after a demanding recital program, what is the most effective strategy?
- Perform another major work of equal length
- Choose a short, accessible, and contrasting piece that leaves the audience on a positive note (Correct answer)
- Repeat the final work of the program
- Perform an unaccompanied vocal piece
Correct answer: Choose a short, accessible, and contrasting piece that leaves the audience on a positive note
An effective encore is brief, audience-friendly, and tonally or emotionally contrasting to the main program, providing a memorable closing impression.
Question 7: Herbert Howells' 'Psalm Preludes' and 'Three Rhapsodies' are staples of which national organ school?
- American
- French
- German
- English (Correct answer)
Correct answer: English
Herbert Howells was a leading figure of the English cathedral organ tradition, and his works are central to the English organ repertoire.
AGO Concert Repertoire & Programming 3
Which registration technique is characteristic of the French Classical school and is frequently encountered when performing Couperin or de Grigny?