Sonata da Chiesa No. 2 (2013)

Franklin D. Ashdown (b. 1942) — Sonata da Chiesa No. 2 (2013) for organ

1. Intrada
2. Canto
3. Giubilo

“Sonata da Chiesa No. 2” was composed at the request of Carson Cooman during the early summer of 2013 in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Works from the baroque entitled “Sonata da Chiesa” (“Church Sonata”) were multi-movement pieces of a non-liturgical nature that could be performed either during religious ceremonies or concerts. “Intrada” begins with a warm, unfolding gesture and subsequently pursues a flowingly lyrical development of its ideas. After a lush introduction (which returns in the middle), “Canto” presents a folk-like melody in two, intertwining voices. The third movement, “Giubilo,” is a festive rondo with a bright theme. Intervening episodes take the music to contrasting key areas, and the music ends with a spirit of great joy.

Franklin D. Ashdown is a composer and retired physician, having pursued dual careers for three decades. Born in 1942, he studied piano for 12 years, and at the age of 13 was recruited to play the organ for a local congregation. He later studied organ with Judson Maynard and James Drake, and was privately coached in composition by Fred Tulan in San Francisco and Leonard Raver of The Juilliard School. Ashdown’s organ and choral compositions have been widely published and performed in venues ranging from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City to Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. His music has been featured on American Public Media’s “Pipedreams,” National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s CBS broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word.” Leonard Raver and Stephen Burns recorded his Requiem for the Challenger on the Classic Masters Label, and James Welch has included some of his solo organ music in his series of recordings for various labels.

Published by Zimbel Press
(http://store.subitomusic.com)