$16.00
David Lasky, organist and composer, recorded these audio samples on January 11, 2015, at St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church, Leominster, Massachusetts.
The Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists decided around 2011 that it wanted to create a “practical” category for one of the commissions for the 2014 National Convention, which it hosted. I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of this commission, which called for an organ prelude of between three and five minutes’ duration based on a hymn tune of the composer’s selection. After much deliberation and experimentation, I decided on PICARDY as the basis of my composition, as its mystical, modal quality invited and challenged me to create a set of continuous variations on it. The piece was to receive its premier at an Evensong service at the convention, and then I would be free to offer it to a publisher of my choice. Owing to my long-standing excellent relationship with Augsburg Fortress, and especially with my editor, Norma Aamodt-Nelson, I decided, without hesitation, that I wished to add this to my library of Augsburg Music compositions. During the convention, at the Augsburg Fortress booth, Norma and I kicked around some ideas about how we could incorporate this into a small collection. I told her that I already had a setting of ADORO TE DOVOTE ready to go, and that I was working on a setting of ATTENDE DOMINE. She was most welcoming to these suggestions, so I sent the music to her, and the result is this collection. I hope that those who play these pieces—and those who listen to them—will enjoy this music as much as I reveled in creating it.