The Oxford Organ Library - Böcker

A year after the University of Portsmouth awarded Cecilia McDowall an honorary doctorate they commissioned an organ work from her, to be performed at each of the graduation ceremonies in 2014. Celebration was written especially to accompany the academic procession and was performed on the mighty Guildhall organ by David Price (University Organist). 'I've tried to capture some of that sense of excitement and joy that fills Portsmouth's Guildhall on these occasions and I have woven into the fabric of the piece a quotation from "To Portsmouth", a cheerful round about the city written by Thomas Ravenscroft at the turn of the seventeenth century.'

Bednall's creation, rooted in the tradition of French organ improvisation, tenderly evokes the mysterious beauty of Wells Cathedral's remarkable 'Jesse Window'. The radiant music ebbs and flows calmly, moving through freely expressive passages of rich harmony, before closing with gentle murmurs at the top of the instrument.

This powerful piece, dating from 2010, shows off the full resources of any organ it is played on. Its driving rhythms and exhilarating, often bitonal, harmonies recall such French organist-composers as Langlais and Messiaen, and while there is often an improvisatory feel, the music is far from formless, and its carefully planned structure contributes crucially to its success.

Commissioned for the 40th birthday of the organist Paul Walton, Walton's Paean is a work of great verve, with compelling rhythms, exciting harmonies, and catchy melodies propelling the celebratory music forward. Through the boisterous excitement, legato passages emerge as the piece hurtles towards the resounding finale. There is also a little joke in the occasional references to the music of Paul Walton's namesake, William.

Elegy, with its warmly expressive tenor-range melodies, is highly suitable for use at funerals, while the cascading joy of Festive Bells makes it perfect as a wedding recessional. The finely wrought sonorities will sound to maximum effect on a large organ in a spacious acoustic, but will nonetheless be convincing on even the most modest of instruments. Both pieces have that warm sense of Englishness that makes them very accessible to the first-time listener.

James Whitbourn's Apollo tells the story of the first manned flight to the Moon (the year before the first lunar landing). A wealth of imaginative textures depicts such dramatic events as countdown, ignition, and the first sight of earthrise, leading to a fantasia on an ancient Greek melody, and a final triumphant Paean.

Sun Dance is a slightly modified version of the fifth movement from the composer's Organ Dances, originally conceived for organ solo, strings, and percussion. The music is for the most part celebratory in character, its spiky rhythms driven along by the pervasive alternation of 3/8 and 4/4 metrical groupings, although the composer also has fun with 7/8 and 5/8 patterns.

Amy Beach was celebrated during her lifetime as the foremost female composer of the United States, and her writing was frequently inspired by the folk music of America and Britain. Originally for piano, her Scottish Legend evokes Scotland in its wistful melody, adorned by Scotch snaps and conveying a folk-like atmosphere, but spiced up with a few late-Romantic harmonies. Contrasts between major and minor are also used to telling effect in this gently attractive piece, sympathetically arranged for the organ by Robert Gower.

John Philip Sousa's The Washington Post March was written in 1889 for the newspaper's essay-writing competition award ceremony, and very swiftly gained the wide popularity it has retained to this day. Robert Gower's well-crafted and playable arrangement will work well on pretty much any size of instrument, and will make a welcome addition to the organist's repertoire of ceremonial voluntaries for grand occasions.

for organ solo The syncopated Toccatina is influenced by pop music as well as the music of South America, while the use of repeated notes is derived from Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. The piece will be effective on any size of instrument, providing a joyous lift at the end of a service or in a recital.

for solo organ In this organ voluntary, Skempton has crafted a wash of melting lines using his distinctive harmonic language. Affirmation expands from a singular note into undulating four- and five-part textures. This, combined with its molto largo tempo, instils a reflective mood.

This inventive work, composed in 2019, owes its title to that year's two great anniversaries connected to manned flight: the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. A wide range of highly effective textures and atmospheric harmonies draws the player and the listener through a journey that eventually reaches D major for the gloriously affirmative ending.

This exciting work packs a huge amount of musical variety into its compact frame, despite being written with the needs of developing organists in mind. A fanfare-like section in 3-time twice gives way to a jaunty Allegro in 5/8, before a canonic crescendo returns us to the opening idea and a final blaze of colour.

for solo organ This virtuoso showpiece, dating from 2002, is worthy to stand alongside the Toccatas of Gigout and Boëllmann, and makes a superb conclusion to a service or recital on any size of organ. Its harmonic language is strongly tonal, but enlivened along the way by spicy touches, while its near-constant semiquaver motion lends it a breathless rhythmic drive.

for solo organ. Elegy for the Time of Change was written in response to the horrifying murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police in May 2020. Imbued with singing melodies and richly expressive harmonies, the work makes several brief allusions to the spiritual There is a Balm in Gilead, offering a hopeful vision of healing and unity to a nation (and world) riven by mistrust and disparity.

for solo organ A Gaelic Blessing is one of John Rutter's best-loved choral works, and now, thanks to the composer's own highly sensitive arrangement, it is available to organists to play as a gently expressive interlude or voluntary. Requiring at least a two-manual instrument, this version captures fully the warmth and tenderness of the original.

for solo organ Celebration is an exciting work for solo organ. Exuberant rhythms prevail in the outer sections (including a playful reference to Walton's Crown Imperial), framing more pensive music at the centre of the piece.

for organ The initial marking 'Sparkling' is a good description of this piece's effervescent Toccata-like figurations and striking harmonies. The plainsong theme appears in longer note values either in the pedal or at the top of the texture. Imaginative use of the organ creates an exciting atmosphere as the piece reaches a powerful conclusion.

for Solo organ This exciting piece was composed as a television theme in 1959. Like an Elgar Pomp and Circumstance march, it alternates punchy fanfare textures with a warm and supremely 'English' melody. In the hands of skilled arranger Tom Winpenny, the piece comes alive as an impressive voluntary or a dashing recital-closer.

for Solo organ This virtuosic transcription will make a thrilling voluntary or recital piece. After a characteristic opening fanfare, a broad Elgarian theme takes centre-stage; the central section is a bustling fugue with whose material that theme is in the end climactically combined. The very skilful arrangement offers a brilliant distillation of Walton's scintillating orchestral textures.

for mixed choir, baritone solo, organ, and percussion William Walton's vibrant cantata Belshazzar's Feast is adapted here by acclaimed organist David Briggs and percussionist David Bending for voices, organ, and percussion. Three performers, the organist and two percussionists, are charged with creating the same frisson as 90, with Briggs and Bending's arrangement ensuring this work is equally vibrant in its new guise, while opening up performance opportunities to more choirs. The organ score is provided with vocal cues and, while demanding, has been arranged with musical efficiency and the practical ergonomics of the organ in mind. This version is compatible with the vocal score and percussion parts available on sale separately.

for mixed choir, baritone solo, organ, and percussion William Walton's vibrant cantata Belshazzar's Feast is arranged here by acclaimed organist David Briggs and percussionist David Bending for voices, organ, and percussion. Three performers -- the organist and two percussionists -- are charged with creating the same frisson as 90, with Briggs and Bending's arrangement ensuring this work is equally vibrant in its new guise, while opening up performance opportunities to more choirs. The percussion part, written for two performers, is provided with vocal cues. This version is compatible with the vocal score and percussion part available on sale separately.

Each of the six movements of this fine suite is an exquisite character sketch based on a Psalm text. The movements are easily diverse enough to make the entire suite a very satisfying, and indeed virtuosic, recital piece. The highly original language is replete with piquant harmonies and bracing rhythms, and the composer explores a wide variety of organ texture with great deftness.

Noel Rawsthorne, who was the first British organist to play in the USSR, met Mushel while on tour and was dismayed to find the young composer prohibited by the Soviet authorities from performing his own compositions. Rawsthorne took this piece back to Britain and edited it for publication. It is very much in the spirit and style of a Ukrainian Cossack dance; the feel is improvisatory, with contrasting sections allowing different dancers to express themselves, before typically culminating in a fast and furious finish.