These Carol-Preludes were written in 2008 but the idea was in the composer's mi...(+)
These Carol-Preludes were written in 2008 but the idea was in the composer's mind for many years before this. Essentially they revive the old style of the Chorale- Prelude but using carol tunes instead of hymns or chorales. They are derived from German French and English melodies some of the German tunes were found in my motherâs old school songbook from her schooldays in Germany after the First World War.
Commissioned for the 26th International Organ Festival at St Albans 2011 and fun...(+)
Commissioned for the 26th International Organ Festival at St Albans 2011 and funded by the RVW Trust.Duration: 7.45 Performance notes Registration: the performer is free to determine the entire registration scheme except at bar 60 where a solo reed is mandatory.Pitch: manual passages at bars 25 32 38 are written for a solo 4' stop (s). The Pedal is at 16' (ad lib 32') unless otherwise indicated (bars 31 37 where a solo 8' is required).III - Sw.II - Gt.I - Pos/Ch Composer's note Esperanza is named after Camp Esperanza (Camp Hope) the location of the mission to rescue the thirty-three miners trappedunderground for seventy days in 2010 at the San Jose Mine in Chile a rescue that was televised live and was one of the most moving and inspiring things I have ever seen. By the most extraordinary coincidence I had already done a good deal of sketching for this Organ piece before this all happened and had determined on a 'darkness-to-light' kind of piece - so the coincidence as well as my feelings of elation were both too strong to ignore.The piece persues a course from a fairly knotty slow beginning (heralded by a few chords that recur at the very end) full of rising themes (another coincidence - the material had already been sketched before the miners were trapped underground) and reaching a loud climax the quick toccata-like second section bursting vigourously out of the tension which is created at the beginning of the work.
POD-Le Poisson Magique is a work by John McCabe for Organ. A full performance o...(+)
POD-Le Poisson Magique is a work by John McCabe for Organ. A full performance of the piece lasts around 6 minutes. British composer and pianist John McCabe died in 2015. This work is an early one and published now for the first time. It dates from 1964 a rich year for his organ music also including the Johannes-Partita Nocturne and Prelude. Le Poisson Magique is a meditation on the painting of the same name by Paul Klee and takes the form of a free passacaglia in two alternating tempi. A solid technique is required to tackle some of the more complex polyphonic passages but as ever the rewards with McCabe’smusic are broad and deep. - Sunday by Sunday
