This well-known Toccata by Charles-Marie Widor is the Toccata from the 5th Symphony (Opus 42). It is highly likely the Toccata was originally conceived for, or at, the piano with an organ pedal part added as a final stage of the composition, as the pedal not only provides something of a bass presence but save for a few 'horn calls', more importantly yet simplistically reinforces the transition of harmonic colour already provided by the manuals, not least △7 on first appearance of the pedal dotted rhythm.

Due to its incessant semi-quaver right-hand movement and rhythmic left-hand energy, familiarity for the performer with the performance acoustic is essential with a skill to 'listen to the room or building' in which it is performed.

Whilst the Toccata is played briskly (Allegro), a performance that is too fast will take away detail, which incidentally, through dynamic shading can be brought out well on the piano. Widor never performed this piece too fast - a temptation for organists with the 'weightless' keys of the organ and modern pneumatic action coupling of manuals.

Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) was a French composer and amongst other works wrote 10 organ symphonies of which the Toccata from No. 5 is perhaps the best known. From 1896 Widor was Professor of Composition at the Paris Conservatoire.

The contrapuntal elements in the Toccata are a manifestation of Widor's study of the organ works of J. S. Bach. Widor also harks back to J. S. Bach et al as Widor was a great improviser and it is easy to hear and see how the Toccata is improvisatory in nature and in earlier times may well have been treated differently with each performance.

Unfortunately, the Toccata has been somewhat misused in UK churches, particularly the Church of England. It has, and still is, used to show off musical ability and prowess, also to show off an instrument, a standard of music or even a church itself. Thus, the piece has become something of a status symbol, a channel of egoism and indeed almost a music qualification per se. (An antithesis to true spirituality.) Widor never intended this and, in my opinion, wrote the music (i) as a tribute to, and in recognition of, J. S. Bach (ii) to consolidate improvisatory skills as presented here in a piece of structured music (iii) to 'borrow' △7 primarily from jazz and establish the feature as a functional device in classical music, hence its delightful colouring and, as an art of the usage of dissonance.

Another great improviser who wrote many of his works from improvisations played in the aristocratic salons of Paris was Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849). He wrote a set of 3 Mazurkas (Op. 63) composed in 1846 to which the F minor Mazurka Op. 63, No. 2 belongs. This piece is a Polish dance in triple time and marked 'Lento'. Like all Mazurkas, it has emphasis other than the first beat of the bar. The Mazurkas were a vehicle for Chopin's inner most thoughts and depth of feeling and no less given out here in this Mazurka performance.

The Widor Toccata is in F major and the Chopin Mazurka in the parallel/tonic minor which is F minor. In certain spiritual terms, both these keys are thought to mean, represent, depict or be the essence of 'love'.

Both the Toccata from the 5th Symphony by Charles-Marie Widor and the Mazurka in F minor Op. 63, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin are played by Dr Michael Spacie.

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Toccata From Symphony No. 5 By Widor And Mazurka Op. 63, No. 2 By Chopin. (Click Here For Details.)

Welcome to my SoundCloud page and a variety of audio recordings. Headphones or speakers are advantageous and recommended for listening. To continue reading, please click 'Show more' below:

Please note: click on any audio track for details about the music. 

A big thank you to all those listeners who have 'liked' tracks; most tracks have now been listened to many times. Statistics are not displayed publicly on this SoundCloud page as all tracks are then presented equally as pieces of music. My thanks to listeners who 'follow' me - thank you for enjoying my music performances and compositions. Thank you also for the messages/comments of appreciation. I hope to share more music with you on my SoundCloud page in the future.

My first piano lesson was on my tenth birthday and ever since, the piano has been a life-long study with a pursuit of classical music. By 18 years of age I was able enough to achieve Grade 8 piano with distinction from The Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music as well as Grade 8 Theory of Music (Grade 8 being the final student Grade) and at the time, quite rapidly discovered that Grade 8 was not the end but just the beginning in terms of musical skill and musical development and knowledge.

Post Grade 8 and after further study I achieved two piano performance diplomas (ALCM) and (DipABRSM), I then went on to be successful with the highly demanding and prestigious Licentiate of The Royal Schools of Music Piano Performance Diploma Examination (LRSM) which is recognized the world over; the LRSM examination involved the performance of demanding repertoire, an extensive viva voce of verbal questioning and also, in my case for the 'Quick Study', a previously unseen baroque-style whole Gigue to prepare and perform with only 5 minutes preparation time; there are several examiners assessing live and the whole exam was audio recorded to ensure a rigour and standard appropriate to holding the LRSM. 

Also, I am twice piano performance Licentiate of Trinity College London (LTCL) with different repertoire, and twice piano performance Licentiate of The London College of Music at The University of West London (LLCM) with different repertoire; this along with other music successes including an academic FLCM (Fellow of The London College of Music) - some of my academic study in music being with the London College of Music at the then Thames Valley University. 

My qualifications in music are as follows:
LRSM (Piano Performance), LTCL (Piano Recital), LTCL (Piano Recital), LLCM (Piano Recital), LLCM (Piano Performance), DipABRSM (Piano Performance), ALCM (Piano Performance), LVCM(Hons) (Piano Performance), FLCM (Diploma in Music Literacy – Research Thesis (Music)), FVCM(Hons) (Musicology (by Thesis)), FVCM(Hons) (Composition), BA(Music), MMus, PhD(Music).

I am an experienced music tutor with advanced piano tuition specialty at higher education level as well as experience in teaching all levels of piano from absolute beginner to performance diploma standard with excellent learner results. One of my students of piano wrote: "Michael is calm, professional, patient, and exceptionally talented."

I have also studied the organ and singing and I also enjoy conducting. In addition, I am an established composer of piano music. My own original piano compositions consist of the following which can all be heard on this SoundCloud page: 
- Opus 1, Reflections Series 13 piano pieces.
- Opus 2, 4 piano pieces dedicated to my wife, Mrs Sandra Spacie.
- Opus 3, 4 contemporary piano pieces.
- Opus 4, A set of 45 Mysteries which have something of an 'other-wordly' sound and ethereal feel. They can be used for general relaxed listening and enjoyment, meditation and spiritual life or to ponder the mysteries of the Universe.
- Opus 5, 4 piano pieces dedicated to my wife, Mrs Sandra Spacie.
- Opus 6, 4 Classical Preludes for Piano. A beautiful set of preludes for piano.
- Opus 7, O Tannenbaum [O Christmas Tree]: Variations and Faux Bourdon Composed by Dr Michael Spacie and Finlandia by Finnish Composer Jean Sibelius: Chorale Variations and Faux Bourdon Composed by Dr Michael Spacie.
- Piano Solo Arrangement: Cantique De Noël (O Holy Night) by French Composer Adolphe Adam.
- Opus 8, Funeral March in D minor followed by modulatory Interlude and Funeral March in C minor followed by concluding Interlude dedicated in memory of two musical associates.
- Opus 9, A set of 12 Rhapsodies for the piano.
- Opus 10, No. 1. Processional Wedding March in D major composed for friends.
- Opus 10, No. 2. Recessional Wedding March in E major composed for friends.
- Opus 11, A set of four pieces for piano 'Stillness in the Music'. A spiritual inspiration of the flowing energy in music. Composed for the piano with many subtle sounds, harmonics, overtones, and infused with delightful multiple colours and layers of musical sound with an ever present 'stillness'.

I was lucky enough to purchase a hand-crafted acoustic upright 'Welmar' piano manufactured by the piano factory Whelpdale, Maxwell and Codd, London. It has a delightful responsive touch and 'warm' sound and resides in my dedicated home music studio.

Each item digitally recorded by me was done without any technological tweaking per se.

Composition:-
This is a lifetime's study and requires much practice to be musically satisfying. Imagination and creativity require quiet contemplation with experience and knowledge of technique in so much as how to play the notes composed in order to produce the best possible sound. My original compositions featured on this SoundCloud page portray self-expression and some insight into the world of harmony sometimes manifesting a musical colouration with mainly diatonicism peppered with some chromatic detail giving rise to various energy levels through dissonance and resolution: there are basic chord shapes which are altered; clusters giving beauty of sound; various tensions arising from chords and melody outside the key centre whether specific or vague and unusual combinations of chords and harmony with an effective intervallic structure. Some of the pieces are evocative and somewhat lyrical whilst others create a mood which is timeless and calming, yet other pieces are haunting, being restrained and subtle. The rhythm can vary from being completely free to measured with some 'rubato' flexibility. Any bar lines are not necessarily part of the mix with a natural accentuation in phrasing often indicating a surreptitious rise and fall of tone levels. The damper pedal gives at times an 'extra-wordly' feel and makes use of the harmonics and overtones which in some instances add atmosphere, mood and character, often giving rise to a combination of sophistication and simplicity of musical content with a feeling of an ebb and flow where nothing is static but an ever changing scene with space for individual freedom and emotion within a framework of appeal and accessibility for the listener.
 
Pianist with advanced performance skill:-
There is no sense of be-all and end-all of piano performance. Nowadays, the term ‘concert pianist’ is very much in vogue, has widespread usage, popular acceptance and is somewhat used mainly for elitist purposes, designation of level and has been since the mid to late 19th-century.
Although certainly not in every single case, the term ‘concert pianist’ somewhat generally carries something of the reality of egoism and showmanship and thus artificial performance which somewhat blights much of the modern-day field of piano-playing and has indeed done for a very long time since the mid to late 19th-century. For example: an unnecessary robust fortissimo followed by a dramatic pianissimo where a composer didn't require it and where it doesn't suit the music which causes a piece to sound rather brittle, artificial and false; for show, a much faster tempo than the composer intended; an engagement with physical complexity for the sake of complexity, a mechanical virtuosity, which is very often the direct antithesis of both emotional awareness and communication and spiritual awareness and communication in music and performance.
Whilst I hold the highly recognised LRSM qualification in piano performance, a qualification for whatever reason many concert pianists don’t hold, I nevertheless simply regard myself as a pianist, a servant of the composer and a servant of the music and it is always my wish that my performances speak to the listener in some profound way rather than simply to impress musically, and that they are primarily free from ‘egoism’, ‘showmanship’ and all things ‘artificial’, but instead to musically communicate and share is one’s desire rather than of show and promotion of the ego.
Prior to the mid to late 19th-century, even the greatest composers and performers performed keyboard works at concert-level by reading from the music and portraying the emotion and spirituality of that music with a very high degree of accuracy without many (if any) wrong notes as well as maturity of contemporary stylistic awareness. I have personally adopted this as my particular performance model (no matter which era of piano music I am performing). This I strive to do with utmost integrity of feeling, to immerse oneself in the wonderment of each subjective interpretation of feeling, of mood and character, atmosphere and new insight with a distinctive tone-quality somewhat unique to me and my playing. And, last but not least, how a subjective interpretation appears and disappears from the ether involving the player but without the player getting in the way!

I can be contacted by email using gmail.com preceded by pianistmusicianmikespacie@

Thank you for visiting my SoundCloud page.

Dr Mike Spacie

Toccata From Symphony No. 5 By Widor And Mazurka Op. 63, No. 2 By Chopin. (Click Here For Details.)

Dr Michael Spacie, LRSM LTCL LTCL LLCM LLCM, etc.