When three or more fingers in one or both hands are called on to play rapidly-changing chords, they will often need to be played short or “staccato.” The hands cannot play such chords legato if the quickness of the changes makes the use of crossing, redistribution, glissando, or substitution impractical. At least two alternate approaches are possible:
The staccato approach is particularly effective when playing full organ over a legato pedal line--a common structure in the French romantic style (as in the example) and in the late German Romantic school of organ composition.