Praeludium (2014)

Franklin D. Ashdown (1942–2023) — Praeludium (2014) for organ

“Praeludium” was composed at the request of Carson Cooman during March 2014 in Alamagordo, New Mexico. The piece is loosely modeled on the North German baroque praeludium (particularly as exemplified by Buxtehude), though entirely re-imagined with Ashdown’s contemporary American neo-romantic language. The music is in four sections, played without pause: Jubilaum, Chaconne, Interludium, and Gigue.

Franklin D. Ashdown (1942–2023) was an American composer and physician. He was born in Logan, Utah and began piano study at a young age. At age 13, he 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 (San Francisco) and Leonard Raver (The Juilliard School). Based for much of his life in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Ashdown pursued dual careers for more than three decades (1971–2007) as an internist and organist/composer. After his retirement from medicine in 2007, Ashdown focused exclusively on music. Ashdown’s numerous organ and choral compositions have been widely published, and his organ music became a frequent part of the repertoire of many performers throughout the USA. Ashdown’s music was performed in venues ranging from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and the Salt Lake Tabernacle 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 Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’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 s

Published by Zimbel Press/Subito Music Corp.

https://store.subitomusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_100_1089&products_id=6951