George Frederick McKay (1899–1970) — Lament for Absalom (1963)
George Frederick McKay (1899–1970) was born and spent most of his life in Washington State. He founded the composition department at the University of Washington and served as professor of music for over 40 years. McKay composed nearly 1000 works in every style and form, including about 30 works for organ. In recent years, a series of recordings of his orchestral music on the Naxos label have brought renewed attention to his music.
"Lament for Absalom" (1963) was composed for a 1960s subscription series of publications entitled "The California Organist", sponsored by the Southern California chapters of the American Guild of Organists.
The piece is subtitled "on a theme by Schütz (1600)."