Pastorale

Program Notes

I composed Pastorale over the summer of 2018, my first composition for organ, shortly after beginning as organist for First Presbyterian Church of Saginaw. The piece is inspired by the beauty of the surrounding fields and pastures that make up much of central Michigan. The harmonic and structural language takes root in the music of George Butterworth, Archibald James Potter, Frederick Delius, Patrick Hawes, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and other great British composers who so expressively captured the pastoral nature of their landscapes. While slower than a traditional pastorale, the piece follows much of the typical parameters, including compound meter, repetitive bass patterns, and a contrasting middle "storm" section. The piece gradually unfolds through a series of rhythmic variations that expand and contract via augmentation and diminution.