Meditation on 'Wie schön leuchtet' - David Bednall (b. 1979)

David Bednall is a British organist and composer who is recognized as one of the leading choral composers of his generation. He studied composition with John Pickard (b. 1963), earning a PhD in Composition at the University of Bristol, and organ with Dr. Naji Hakim (b. 1955) and David Briggs (b. 1962). He has an extensive freelance career as a performer as well as being Sub Organist at Bristol Cathedral. The “Meditation on ‘Wie schön leuchtet’ (“How lovely shines” [the morning star]) is based on a tune of the same name, which can be found in The United Methodist Hymnal at No. 247. In a year when there has been so much talk about the great conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, this piece seemed most appropriate for Epiphany Sunday. Its harmonic language shows the influence that French composers, especially Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) and Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986), have had on his musical style. This piece is being played on the sanctuary organ (Harrison and Harrison, 2002) at Front Street United Methodist Church, Burlington, NC.

[jerryofsanfrancisco]

Matt - a new piece of music I had not heard before from this composer. I have over 1, 000 CDs of organ music & it amazes that I am still discovering new composers & new music.