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Use: General
Required Resources: Organ
Pianists just learning organ or veteran organists looking for variety in repertoire will find here a valuable collection.
Donna Robertson writes extremely well for organ — her creative rhythms and harmonies are always a delight to play and hear.
Don't be fooled, though.
These two pieces for manuals only are not "simple."
They're superbly crafted settings of two familiar hymn tunes, which use all the potential of the organ's manuals.
They can be played on a large or small organ, and really require only one manual (with some registration changes).
Ebenezer or Ton-y-botel is often sung with the text, "Once to Every Man and Nation."
Full of rhythmic intensity, the setting capitalizes on the triplet found in the melody.
This is easily played on the Great manual, with crescendo pedal for the ending.
Ratisbon appears in hymnals with the text, "Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies."
In this toccata, a staccato, eighth-note figure dances through 6/8 and 3/4 and 7/8 time, over the melody played in broken fragments of longer note values. This lighter section can be played on the Swell manual.
The second half of the toccata has bigger, richer chords in the right hand, over more sustained melody phrases.
Ample use of staccato, marcato, and a combination of the two keeps these wonderful manual pieces animated and propelled.
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