Category: Organ

Without further ado, here are the third and fourth Miniatures.  Miniature III (Scherzoso) is actually a second version, not the original that I had composed.  Every once in a while, I will finish a piece and play it later and have a strong feeling that the piece doesn’t work.  That happened in this piece.  Usually, this will happen in the compositional process and figure out a new path or start over.  I stuck with the Scherzoso subtitle and this much better piece was produced.

The second piece, Miniature IV (Andante Cromatica: Hommage á Louis Vierne), was built from ideas in Miniature II; namely the chromatic movement in the intermittent chordal sections.  I think the Vierne reference is subtle in Miniature II, but Miniature IV waves that reference proudly.  The 24 Pieces in Free Style (24 Pièces en style libre) have been an obvious influence for me – I even have my own Organbook with pieces in the 24 keys.  There are a few hommages there as well, but not one to Vierne.  It was time to do so!

Here is the next Miniature, number II, titled Lament.  Unlike the Organbook, the other set of mostly manual piece and is a collection of individual pieces, I imagine the Miniatures ultimately as a suite of pieces that could be performed together.  I have on occasion combined movements from the Organbook, but the Miniatures have an arch.  As it unfolds over the next weeks, the arch will become much more apparent.  Don’t forget to download the score at the bottom of the Works page!

Below is a short new work and quite enjoyable.  Every once in a while, I am asked to write some simple pieces for (mostly) manuals and this is the first in a series of Miniatures in that vein.  This one, subtitled Offertoire, is a fairly flexible piece.  I play it pretty quickly in this particular recording, but it works at a slower tempo as well.  Click over to “Works” and scroll to the bottom to get the free PDF.

Here are two pieces from my Organbook; the first is the Toccata (Hommage á Muffat) in C major and the other is the Toccata.  Interestingly, these are the only two pieces in the Organbook to share the title “Toccata.”  The first is modeled on the ancient Toccatas of Muffat or really any of the early masters in the 17th century.  It’s sectional, contains moments of counterpoint, flourishes at the keyboard, and an excited triple meter ending.  The second Toccata, on the other hand, is more in the French Romantic vein, though for manuals.  Really, the piece almost feels like an introduction and that there is pedal melody about to join the toccata in the hands.  Enjoy the two pieces back to back!

Today I present a piece from my work titled “Organbook.”  The Organbook was created in the manner that many other keyboard composers have done, namely, 24 pieces in the 24 keys.  The other guideline I gave to myself was keeping the work for manuals.  Honestly, writing that many pieces and keeping them all unique and different from the rest was a challenge.  “Fanfare,” presented here and performed by Carson Cooman, is written in the second mode of limited transposition, also known as the octatonic scale.  I often think as a teacher and many of the pieces present some sort of compositional idea.  It’s short, but it makes its point.  

I have to admit, right from the get-go, that I wasn’t sure this piece worked as an entirety.  BUT, after hearing Dr. Nancy Cooper, my former teacher and the dedicatee, I am very happy about the results.  In fact, she told me that several other professors said that the last movement could be longer and I am in agreement (though it might take me a bit in getting to adding to that last movement).  And there it is, the piece in all it’s glory.  Enjoy the premier of the Partita!