Prelude on “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (1963)

Wayne Barlow (1912–1996) — Prelude on “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (1963) for organ

American composer Wayne Barlow (1912–1996) was born in Elyria, Ohio and was educated at the Eastman School of Music with Edward Royce, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. After receiving a B.Mus. and M.Mus, in 1937 he received a Ph.D. in Music, the first person in the history of the USA to receive that degree. He followed his Eastman studies with post-graduate studies in composition with Arnold Schoenberg at the University of Southern California. In 1937, Barlow returned to the Eastman School to join its faculty. He served in various positions at Eastman until his retirement in 1978, finishing his career as chairman of the composition department. In addition to his activities at Eastman, Barlow maintained professional activity as a church musician, serving as organist and choirmaster for the parish of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Brighton, New York from 1946–76 and then for Christ Church, Episcopal in Rochester from 1976–78. Barlow’s later Eastman years were largely devoted to the field of electronic music. In 1964–65 he held a Fulbright post-doctoral research grant for six months’ research in electronic music, during which time he was attached to the Universities of Brussels, Ghent, and Utrecht. In 1968 he founded the electronic music studio at the Eastman School, serving as its director until his retirement. In addition to instrumental concert music (including his most popular orchestral work “The Winter’s Passed”) and electronic music, Barlow wrote several volumes of sacred organ music for Concordia Publishing House.

Published by Concordia Publishing House (out-of-print)