Dr Keith Harrington, Managing Director, is delighted to announce agreement has been reached to publish Two Choral Fantasies by the late Noel Rawthorne with his son Chris.
The late Dr Noel Rawsthorne (1929 – 2019) was Organist of Liverpool Cathedral for twenty-five years from 1955 -1980, thereafter becoming Organist Emeritus. A former cathedral chorister, he studied organ with his predecessor, Dr Walter Henry Goss-Custard, whom he succeeded as Cathedral Organist. He went on to study in Siena with the great Fernando Germani and in Paris with Marcel Dupré. He retired as Cathedral Organist in 1980 and for the following four years was Liverpool City Organist at St George’s Hall. In recognition of his many achievements, in 1994 he was conferred Doctor of Music (Honoris Causa) by the University of Liverpool and in retirement, he increasingly turned his hand to composition and arrangement. Apart from the choral settings, many written specifically for Liverpool Cathedral Choir, there are various sets of voluntaries.
Wachet auf, ruft unds die Stimme (Chorale, Trio, Aria, Pedal Solo & Finale)
Dedicated ‘To Ian Tracey on the occasion of his 25th Anniversary Recital as Organist of Liverpool Cathedral’ this was premiered at the 79th Anniversary Recital and heard again at Noel’s memorial recital in October 2019. The music takes the form of five variations on the Lutheran chorale, harmonised by J S Bach and used in his Cantata 140. The fanfare motif employed in the final variation nostalgically quotes from his Liverpool Service commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Liverpool Cathedral in 1992.
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (Chorale, Pedal Solo, Aria, Introduction and Fugato, & Finale)
The second Chorale Fantasie was dedicated ‘a mon ami Gordon Stewart’ but was unfinished at the time of Noel’s death in 2019. Having spent many years in the loft with Noel as Organ Scholar and Assistant Organist and having heard many of his chorale improvisations, Ian Tracey completed the Fantasie and gave its first performance at the 94th Anniversary Recital in 2020. The piece takes the form of five variations on the Lutheran chorale, harmonised by J S Bach and used in his Cantata 80. The fanfare motif employed in the final variation appropriately quotes from his Blackburn Service commissioned by the Dean & Chapter of Blackburn Cathedral in 1996.
We have already reached the first stage of proofs of the manuscript in Sibelius format so publication is expected to take place in late November 2025 at a price of £25.00 per copy. In advance of this we are running our usual pre-publication offer at £20.00 per copy for those who pre-order from our webstore here. In due course we anticipate that Steven Maxson will have recordings of the music available on his YouTube channel.
