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Zweite Sinfonie für Orgel - (2023)
for organ
Manfred Grob gewidmet
i. Thema und Permutationen
In three movements, the opening Thema of the symphony is the succession of triads from i to iii to v, D minor to F minor and thence to A minor. Stated in augmentation at first and then at measure ten as a a set of gestures, the implied tonic throughout. A next permutation overlays a melody above, as so on. At the tempo change, the augmentation is again evident as the toccata-like figurations are built on the "thema." An episode in the now contrasting C major is melodic, making the return to the more chromatic and darker D minor as a fugue in 6/8 then adds this as another in the permutations of the harmonic succession as theme.
The fugue subject is stated in the tenor voice at first and then is restated in other harmonic domains. As coda for the movement, the pedal takes a solo line and then the fugue ends with beginning minor third missing from the unison and octaves.
ii. Fantasie
The center movement draws from the opening gestures as triadic harmonies shift, and "arabesque" arpeggios, the whole rooted in the dominant minor of the larger symphonic form.
iii. Rondo und Contrapunctus
The last movement points to the final D major domain, after the D minor to A minor in an A-B-A harmonic form. Now the triadic succession becomes D major to F sharp major to A major, a sister to the opening. For this recollections of the fugue shape are reworked in the contrapunctus, shifting harmonies throughout.
The fugue echoes the first, now referencing the major. But now it is as an episode in the larger rondo form. A number of contrasting harmonic domains are visited as the fugue subject is worked through. Final restatements return solidly to the last statements of the theme, the minor third of the first movement becoming the "tierce de Picardy" of this third movement of the larger form.
The work came to be, as organist Manfred Grob wrote me from Dortmund (where he serves as Kantor for the Marienkirche) inquiring about the first Sinfonie für Orgel (2013), which was composed in Berlin a decade before, with the Berliner Dom organ and organist in mind. The notion for this symphony was sparked by that contact, and its title in German reflects that and more from our decades in Germany. Extended works for organ are a challenge and joy to imagine into being.
31 pages, circa 30' 00" an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.
