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Programme Note

James Dalton, the organist of the Queen’s College Oxford asked me to write this piece and I had in mind the then newly installed Frobenius organ there. Thus it was designed for a small classical organ, with a limited range of registration and consequently vivid contrasts in tone colour - and very clear textures, and with stops that spoke very rapidly, making possible highly rhythmic playing.

The piece is basically in fast tempo, with slower sections. The opening toccata-like figuration gives way to a quieter chorale theme and a more flowing secondary melody. There is an extended Adagio middle section featuring solo stops (originally krummhorn and sesquialtera) followed by a contrapuntal combination of the various themes. The recapitulation leads to a chorale-like close on the full organ.

The first performance was given by Gillian Weir at West Cathedral on 17 May 1967.


Hugh Wood