Month: March 2016

Happy Holy Week!  I had hoped to get this posted before this evening, but as composition goes, these things are never timely.  I sometimes get caught in some small details and these last two pieces were no exception.  There were parts of each that didn’t satisfy me after an initial play-through.  But, as all things must come to a completion, the Lenten Improvisations are complete with the completion of the last improvisation, the Palm Sunday Improvisation.  I also wanted to round the collection with toccata for Easter.  It is a pretty straight forward work, much like the Miniatures and the Lenten Improvisations, but is a much more joyous work. Enjoy the works and Happy Holy Week!

There are some days, as a composer, and more specifically an organist composer, when I relish in good chorale writing.  On those days when I play the chorale harmonizations of Bach or Vaughan Williams, they are so perfect and I never feel the need to do something to make them more exciting.  That being said, keeping one’s voice-leading and chorale writing skills in good shape can lead to a piece like today’s Lenten Improvisation.  It’s a chorale.  Simple as that.

For this week, the 4th Sunday in Lent, the Improvisation is a little more joyous and clear.  One of the aspects that I have enjoyed in writing these pieces is letting them be what they are rather than coming to an obvious conclusion.  Not that the latter is a bad thing (see the Miniatures), but sometimes a lack of ending is important.  Lent is certainly a season that anticipates something immense and the music should reflect that.  This 4th Sunday is of course Laetare Sunday, reminding us to rejoice.  The 4th Improvisation has a clear structure and form, a reminder of the powerful moments to come.

PS: It was just pointed out that the third system had no repeats but had text that read implied the repeats.  That text has been taken out.  In actually performing the work, I found that repeat to be intrusive to the flow of the work.