Vierne: Lied, Opus 31 No. 17 (West Point Cadet Chapel Organ)

West Point Organist Craig Williams plays "Lied" (translated "Song") from the second volume of Louis Vierne's Pieces in Free Style. This is a collection of 24 pieces in two volumes, written in all major and minor keys, which were written by Vierne for all musicians who were called upon to play the harmonium or pipe organ, in church services or other public performances. Each piece has two sets of registration indications, one with distinctive markings for harmonium and the other with lists of stops to be drawn on a two manual and pedal pipe organ. It is possible to play these pieces with hands alone, since the harmonium player uses the feet for pumping the wind. However, there are indications for the bass part to be occasionally taken by pedal when played on the organ. The pieces vary in mood, from contemplative to playful to virtuosic; though the overall difficulty of them is not the level of Vierne's other organ works or symphonies. "Lied," as the title suggests, is a meditative and expressive piece, introducing the melody in the left hand underneath a gently rocking ostinato in the right. The piece does intensify, first with some harmonies using multiple voice leading, and then a chromatic sequence in five voices built over a moving pedal line. This leads into a recitative-like section played on full foundations in the Great, with the pedal maintaining the bass. The piece then returns to a recap of the original theme over some slight variations in the right hand ostinato.
Some of the chromatic sequences return, in a related key to the opening patterns, but never reaching the intensity of the first section. Ultimately, the piece settles down as the melody winds through patterns of itself, alternating between soprano and bass pedal. The opening theme is in A-flat Major, though the chromatic sections between opening and recap range far from the home key.
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