The Five Trees (Suite for Chamber Organ) (2023)

Karen Beaumont (b. 1965) — The Five Trees (Suite for Chamber Organ) (2023)

0:00 | 1. Oak
2:08 | 2. Chestnut
3:18 | 3. Cherry
4:37 | 4. Maple
5:57 | 5. Pine

“For there are five trees in Paradise for you...” — Gospel of Thomas

The composer writes: “Carson Cooman suggested I write a five movement suite for a chamber organ with a four-octave compass, one keyboard, and only 8', 4', 2' stops. Interested in the challenge, I said yes and then began to find a way to meet this challenge. I first investigated things that come in groups of five, which is not many, as a way to ignite ideas. The ‘five trees of paradise’ mentioned in the Gospel of Thomas came up frequently. As I love the world of plant life, I began with this. Each movement is based on a tree that has significance to my personal story, and those private stories drove the emotional content of each movement. Beyond that, I endeavored to have loosely connected key relationships between the movements, provide a variety of registrations between movements (given the limited scope), and create an overriding dramatic arc via texture, tonal leaning (tending towards major or tending towards minor), and harmonic simplicity and/or complexity.”

American organist Karen Beaumont (b. 1965) received her degree in Music History from the University of Wisconsin and studied organ with Gerre Hancock, John Behnke, Jeffrey Peterson, and Carol Haakenson. Beaumont has performed as a recitalist in numerous venues throughout the USA and the UK. From 1988 to 2011 she provided the organ and choral music for St. James Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her album of classic French noëls was released on the Pro Organo label in 2020. Her musical compositions have been published by Lorenz, Leupold Editions, Fagus-Music, and SMP Press.

Published by SMP Press

https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/five-trees-a-solo-suite-for-chamber-organ-digital-sheet-music/22534636?aff_id=88095