Recording an improvisation at RUCC; 23 April, 2020. Trying to remain productive during the COVID lock-down.
This afternoon I recorded and posted three new videos on YouTube, and I'd like to tell you a bit about them.
In Nomine (for Organ) is a short liturgical work, mostly in the Phrygian mode. I composed In Nomine when was I was still an undergraduate composition student. The score looks deceptively simple - with a decided emphasis on deceptively! There are several measures in the middle of this piece where the combined pedal part, syncopated rhythms, and thick textures make for some very challenging playing!
In Nomine brings together modal harmony, polyphonic and homophonic textures, simple and complex rhythms, and both common and rather unusual meters. It is a composition that incorporates musical/compositional elements from ancient, classical/Common Practice Period, and contemporary times. This piece was the first composition I published, and it's still my best selling work. Therefore I am, quite naturally, rather proud of In Nomine.
Pastorale (for Organ) began as an improvisation I recorded at the church during the first week of January. I transcribed it and dedicated it to my friend, the Danish composer and organist Natalia Jespersen.
When I play this piece I tend to take a faster tempo, which, for some (maybe most) listeners weakens the rustic character of the piece. Nonetheless, this is the tempo at which I performed the original improvisation on which this piece is based.
Seraphim was an improvisation inspired by Isaiah 6: 1 - 3: "In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above Him,; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: 'Holy,holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory'" (from the NRSV translation).
If you'd like to purchase the scores to In Nomine and *Pastorale *you can do so here:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/in-nomine-for-organ-digital-sheet-music/21377757
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/pastorale-for-organ-digital-sheet-music/21694451
I hope you enjoy these videos!