SKU: HL.48180057
UPC: 888680795702. 9.0x12.0x0.075 inches.
Composer and organist, Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944) is considered one of the most major French pipe organ players. It is no surprise, therefore, that his Concert Variations for Organ are very well informed. Following his studies at the Paris Conservatoire, Bonnet took over as concert organist at the institution. Concert Variations for Organ was compiled in 1906, soon after his graduation. The work begins with a helpful index of the organ registrations and performance directions. Concert Variations begins with a virtuosic, cadenza-like theme in E minor. Following this, four variations are heard, all containing contrast in organ sound, tonality and exploited melody and rhythm. For all advanced, aspiring organists, Bonnet's Concert Variations is an essential addition to the repertoire.
SKU: HL.14016411
8.25x11.75x0.156 inches.
Composer's Note:
In writing these pieces I had in mind certain difficulties which worry most organists from time to time; and in order to combine, as it were, business with pleasure I thought it worthwhile to concentrate upon one aspect of organ technique in each piece, even at the risk of making them a little more difficult than others in this series.
In Procession the main difficulty lies in the pedals Arabesque, on the other hand could hardly have had a simpler pedal part: its object is to exercise the left hand in producing a smooth, running semi-quaver pattern Pageant with its cross-rhythms, is designed to produce well-disciplinedhands and feet that can, when required, work in conflicting rhythms.
I have kept the registration schemes as simple and straightforward as possible.
SKU: HL.14008939
ISBN 9780853609551. 8.25x11.75x0.178 inches.
The Blue Rose Variations is one of several works in which the composer has drawn on ragtime and blues. The organ work is based on two transformations of the popular piano piece To A Wild Rose (Woodland Sketches, Op.51 No.1) by the American composer, Edward MacDowell (1860-1908). During the course of the Variations, To A Wild Rose appears as a blues and also as a classical rag, often as both together. The sections are Theme: a quiet blues; Variation I: a pedal solo in varied metres based on the blues in fast tempo; Variation II: the first appearance of the rag as a background to the blues as a 2' pedal solo; Variation III: a version of Variation I now involving manuals too; Variation IV: another blues solo against the rag; Variation V: another version of Variation I with the pedal solo almost entirely transferred to the manuals; Variation VI: a final confrontation between the blues and the rag, now much decorated. First performed in New York in April 1986. Duration c.15 mins.
