WINDOWS OF COMFORT (Organbook I) by Dan Locklair

WINDOWS OF COMFORT (Two Organbooks) was the result of a 1996 commission from the First Presbyterian Church of Topeka, Kansas, in celebration of the Church’s ten extraordinary 1911 windows created by Louis Comfort Tiffany. In the teaching spirit of the earliest Christian cathedral and church windows, the Tiffany windows of First Presbyterian Church use Biblical stories as their subjects. Except for the two Medallion Windows (where Trinitarian words and symbols are present), related scripture appears on each window.
In the pieces that make up the two organbooks of WINDOWS OF COMFORT, Mr. Tiffany’s windows and their Bible texts have served as extra-musical stimuli. The stimuli for each piece came from a variety of dimensions, ranging from the impact of the smallest detail to the sheer drama of the complete window itself. Although each of the two organbooks is tightly knit within itself to allow each one to be played as a five-movement suite, it is also my intention that pieces from each organbook may be excerpted and grouped as the performer sees fit for recital or service of worship.
Organbook I
1. “Trinity’s Shield”
Window : The Shield of the Blessed Trinity (one of two Medallion Windows)
The opening movement is based on only three pitches : E-flat, A-flat, B-flat. This exuberant piece not only numerically pays tribute to the Three-in-One, but, through crisp “rocks” of sound, acknowledges the “rocks” of jeweled glass that are at the heart of Tiffany’s stunning creations.
2. “As the hart panteth…” [Passacaglia]
Window : Psalm XLII (“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.” Psalm 42:1)
The passacaglia melody (heard twelve times on the same 4’ pedal stop), symbolizing “…so panteth my soul after Thee…”, consists of ten different pitches in alternating duple (2) and triple (3) meter spanning five measures. The sustained left-hand part adds at each new variation one of the ten pitches on which the piece is based, symbolizing the ever-present sustaining power of God through the image of water. The right-hand’s chromatic melody (always consisting of the ten pitches on which the piece is based), symbolizes the wandering of the hart as it searches for life-restoring waters.
3. “…the heavens were opened…” [Baptism Dance ]
Window : Baptism (“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” St. Matthew 3:17)
The radiant first part of this movement, featuring rhythmical dialogues between the pedal and manuals and between the manuals themselves, seeks to depict, through the spirit of energetic dance, the image of Christ going “…up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him.” (St. Matthew 3:16). Culminating in a climax marked by a brilliant downward pedal solo, the vibrant first part of this piece melts into a still and serene second section symbolizing “the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him.”
4. “…beside the still waters.”[Chaconne]
Window : Psalm XXIII (“The Lord is My Shepherd”)
There are five statements of the twelve-measure chaconne, with the first four being rooted on the note “C” and the final one being centered on “D.” A serene and lyrical movement, this piece is a reflection upon the peace of “..the still waters…”.
5. “Alpha and Omega”
Window : The North Medallion Window (“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Revelations 22:13)
Like Movement 1, containing elements of The Trinity, this movement reflects back on both Movement 1 and Movement 3. Based on the same energetic three-note (E-flat, A-flat, B-flat) idea of #1, this movement expands the pitch palette to include a half-step transposition of those pitches to E-natural, A-natural, B-natural. Similar to the two-part structure of Movement 3, the broad musical idea that symbolized the dove’s descent in #3 returns in the second part of Movement 5, only here it is presented with the strength of full organ. The return to the fast tempo that opened it returns to close the movement.
This 1997 recording of WINDOWS OF COMFORT (Organbook I) is by Marie Rubis Bauer, as performed on the Moller pipe organ of the First Presbyterian Church in Topeka, Kansas, from a Recital Recordings CD (Marie Rubis Bauer, producer and Helen Moritz, associate producer) specially created for sale in the Gift Shop of First Presbyterian Church. It was Dr. Bauer, then Organist of First Presbyterian Church, who was the primary impetus behind the commission of WINDOWS OF COMFORT and, on 13 April 1997, presented the World Premiere of the piece on this organ in First Presbyterian Church.
WINDOWS OF COMFORT (Organbook I) is published by e.c. kerby, ltd./Ricordi (Hal Leonard, dist.).
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