THE ORGAN CONCERTO OF PAUL COOPER: AN ANALYSIS

Abstract

Three features of the musical speech of Paul Cooper figure prominently in his compositions for the organ, and specifically the Organ Concerto (1982). These are a "signature chord", a "Lombardian snap", and the process of pitch centering by assertion. It is a matter of greater importance to see how these features are presented within a much wider context. The Organ Concerto itself was commissioned in 1982 by Clyde Holloway and Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, Texas, in conjunction with the Cathedral's Whitsuntide services. Cooper chose to pattern the Concerto in the style of a Baroque concerto grosso. It is very simply conceived in four movements with an overall rhythmic design of, I: Fast, II: Slow, III: Fast, IV: Coda (Slow); where alternating movements employ similar material in a formal outline as follows: I:A, II:B, III:A\sp1, IV:B