Music for Organ

 

Variations on a Theme of Hurd - (2008)       

 

Prelude and Fugue in C octatonic - (2008)   

 

Prelude and Fugue in B major - (2008)   

 

Prelude and Fugue in G flat major - (2008)    

 

Chorale Variations on "Cloisters" - (2008)     

 

Prelude and Fugue in E modal - (2008)     

 

Prelude and Fugue in E major - (2008)     

 

Prelude and Fugue in G major - (2008)     

 

Prelude and Fugue in D major - (2008)     

 

Meditation über "Komm, du Heiland aller Welt" - (2007)      

 

Chorale Variations and Fugue on "Men varföre gråta" - (2007)      

 

Contrappunto and Fugue in A flat major - (2004)     

 

Contrappunto and Fugue in G major - (2003)     

 

Fantasia on "Splendor paternae gloriae" - (2002)      

Chorale Variation on "Salzburg" - (2002)     

 

Contrappunto and Fugue in D major - (2002)     

Chorale Variations on "Agincourt" - (2002)     

Five Chorale Variations (on Hymn Tunes of Johannes Crüger) - (2002)      

    i.   Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele
    ii.  Gräfenberg
    iii. Luise
    iv. Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen
    v.  Lobet den Herren

 

Cherubim and Seraphim Do Cry - (2002)     

 

Christ Church Meditation - (2001)     

 

Caccia and Fugue in A major - (2001)      

Contrappunto in A minor - (1999)     

 

Chromatic Passacaglia and Fugue on a Theme of Cox - (1996)      

 

...and long gone by - (1996)     

Prelude and Fugue in E major - (1995)       

 

Fantasia, Adagio and Fugue in F major - (1995)      

 

Eternity Regained  - (1995)     

Jacob's Ladder - (1994)     
for harp and organ

The Jerusalem Windows - (1993)     
    i.   Color, Form and Light
    ii.  Among the ladders of light
    iii.  Modest Gifts
    iv.  Glass
    v.   Transformations and Convergences
    vi.  Eternity Regained
    vii. Hallel - Jewels for a Crown

 

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Since a very young age, I have appreciated the art of the organ, especially from the perspective of the repertoire written for this wonderful instrument.

 

As a child, I often sat beside my mother as she accompanied the many choirs my father conducted. My most significant voice teacher, Dorothy Fries, was also skilled at piano and organ, and after my voice lessons over many years she would invite me sit at her Blüthner to play together through the Marcel Dupré editions of Bach's organ music. I learned more of counterpoint from those scores most certainly than from textbooks.

 

I had many chances to play the extraordinary instrument at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral (now sadly demolished), and Timothy Manning, who later became Archbishop of Los Angeles so many decades ago, allowed me to practice whenever I wished after school at Saint Gregory's Church on Norton Avenue in Los Angeles. Among other fine organists of my long acquaintance was Bob Mitchell, known for his Mitchell Singing Boys in films from the 40s like Going My Way and The Jolson Story; Bob was a fine theater organist, and also played for me for many, many years at Ahavat Shalom in Northridge. In 2005, when Bob was in his early 90s, I heard him play again as he improvised a fine accompaniment to a screening of the 1927 silent film, Wings. 

 

Those who design, build and maintain such instruments, those who compose for the instrument, and those who play so brilliantly are a community unto themselves, in some ways, and not always well known to the larger musical community. Dubbed "the king of instruments," entire symphonies have been composed for organ, notably through the French tradition, and the enormous oeuvre of Bach and others is testament to this instrument's power and authority.

 

 

[Photo] At the console of organ at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Its builder, Manuel J. Rosales  [ 1 ]  (who worked with architect Frank Geary to create this instrument tailored to the concert hall), had been a school chum during our days together at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles and allowed me time to audition the instrument. Now he creates these wonderful instruments, while at best I may occasionally write a work for them. The art and craft of the organ builder is a treasure for our culture, and Manuel is among the treasures of southern California.

 

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[ 1 ]   Manuel's company, Rosales Organ Builders, maintains its offices and studio in Los Angeles. His website is www.Rosales.com. His autobiography is available on line, as well as details about his extraordinary work. The Disney Hall organ, his Opus 24, was a joint effort between Rosales Organ Builders and Glatter-Götz Orgelbau in Owingen, Germany.