Healey Willan - Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ (1916)

Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ (1916)

I. Introduction [0:00]
II. Passacaglia [4:02]
III. Fugue [13:34]

A work for organ by the prolific Anglo-Canadian composer and organist Healey Willan (1880-1968). A fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Willan emigrated to Canada in 1913, assuming the posts of Head of the Theory Department, and later Vice Principal, of the Toronto Conservatory of Music (now called the Royal Conservatory of Music); Precentor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto; Choirmaster and Organist of St. Paul's Church on Bloor Street; Professor of Music at the University of Toronto; and founding direction of the Tudor Singers and Gregorian Association of Toronto. Often called the "dean of Canadian composers", Willan was among the first recipients of Companionships of the Order of Canada in the centennial year of 1967.

The Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, widely acknowledged as Willan's masterpiece for organ, arose out of a challenge by a friend that only a "German philosophical mind" could write a good passacaglia. The composer set about writing his passacaglia one variation at a time for each journey he made to his summer home at Lake Simcoe. The work was inspired by the opulent Casavant organ that was installed in 1914 in St. Paul's Church on Bloor Street in Toronto.

Organist: Patrick Wedd
Casavant Organ of the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Montréal (1915)

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[thedream1025]

Agreed.

[erdavis7]

Wow.