{"product_id":"variations-on-adeste-fideles-op-21","title":"Variations on Adeste fideles, Op. 21 by Vidas Pinkevicius","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the fall of 2013 my friend and colleague, Paulius Grigonis who is the organist at St Joseph church here in Vilnius was preparing to play a recital at Vilnius Cathedral around Christmas time. He approached me asking for advice about the pieces he could be playing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI offered him to compose a set of 6 variations on the famous Christmas tune Adeste fideles and he agreed too much hesitation (too bad).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI started working on the composition but got stuck at the end of the 5th variation. I used major and minor chords only. My goal was to create something colorful and modern and yet understandable to the listener.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause of these simple chords the harmonies are very clear and transparent. What makes it sound modern though is that I avoid traditional chordal progressions of the perfect fourth and perfect fifth. This would imply tonic-dominant, dominant-tonic, tonic-subdominant, subdominant-tonic relationship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I didn't want this. I wanted to surprise my audience and my friend Paulius. So I chose all kinds of progressions - minor and major seconds, minor and major thirds, even a tritone to keep it fresh.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, the result was too difficult to play for Paulius on a short notice and I got side-tracked with other projects. Although the idea of completing the variations never left me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo last weekend I sat down and added the last variation with a CODA.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI hope you'll enjoy this piece which is dedicated to Paulius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8 pages, PDF score. Advanced level.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secrets of Organ Playing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":6248792490023,"sku":"null","price":8.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1617\/3503\/products\/Adeste_fideles_snippet.JPG?v=1513627640","url":"https:\/\/secretsoforganplaying.com\/products\/variations-on-adeste-fideles-op-21","provider":"Secrets of Organ Playing","version":"1.0","type":"link"}