A Musical Journey

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho, Richards Fowkes Organ at Christ Church in New Brunswick, NJ

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho, Richards Fowkes Organ at Christ Church in New Brunswick, NJ Sowerby was a fabulous organist and a Pulitzer prize composer. He dedicated Prelude on ‘Land of Rest’ to Richard Wayne Dirken, his colleague organist. The piece is based on a traditional American folk melody and you can often hear this familiar tune “Land of Rest” in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982, # 620 “Jerusalem, my happy home.” The tune is often stated in duets with a measure apart and accompaniment materials have many fourths chords which are a natural influence of folk music. It reaches the climax(ff) in the middle of the piece and all four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) state the melody two beats away. And then it comes back softer and calming as it was in the beginning. which seems to reflect well on "Land of Rest" as the tune indicates.

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho plays on Richards Fowkes Organ (2002) at Christ Church New Brunswick

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho on Richards-Fowkes' Organ( 2002) at Christ Church New Brunswick

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho plays on Richards Fowkes Organ (2002) at Christ Church New Brunswick, NJ.

Dr. Seung-Hee Cho on Richard Fowkes, op 12 in Christ Church New Brunswick Passacaglia is a set of continuous variations in moderately slow dance like triple meter built on an eight-measure melody (basso ostinato). At the bening, the melody starts on the pedal, then it moves to the treble, and sometimes it was hidden in the mid voices of a busy texture. It is a seamless series of scenes which move from darkness to light. Then the passacaglia is followed, without break, by a double fugue. The first half of the passacaglia ostinato is used as the first subject; a transformed version of the second half is used as the second subject. Both are heard simultaneously in the beginning of the fugue. This is an astonishing piece, and it displays such mastery in every detail of its composition that It is hard to believe with the fact that it is among Bach’s earliest compositions. As Bach wrote "Soli Deo Gloria" (for Glory to God alone) in his many manuscripts, one may sense his deep faith through life journey from struggling trvels to final triumphant ending.