Music for a Solemn Occasion

Calvin Hampton (1938-1984) was born in Kittaning, Pennsylvania and raised in Ravenna, Ohio, Hampton was a resident of New York City from 1963 until his death from AIDS in 1984. He received his musical training at Oberlin Conservatory and Syracuse University, where his teachers were Fenner Douglass and Arthur Positer. He was a distinguished recitalist, specializing in 19th and 20th century repertoire, and was famous for his weekly Friday Midnight concerts at Calvary Church in New York City, where he was Organist and Director of Music. He was twice a recitalist at the national conventions of the American Guild of Organists. His organ transcription of "Pictures at an Exhibition" was the first modern day organ transcription and, which was followed-up by a transcription of Franck's "Symphony in D Minor." The late Eric Routley, an authority on church music, cited Hampton as "the greatest living composer of hymn tunes."
Virtually every hymnal in America today contains hymn tunes and harmonizations by Calvin Hampton. In addition to hymns and other service music, he also wrote important works for orchestral and chamber forces. Many of his organ works were commissioned for new organs, such as "Music for an Important Occasion," the first commissioned work for the concert organ in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

Hampton recorded widely as an organist, especially for the Musical Heritage Society (all out of print today). Many of his works have been reissued in new digital recordings since the 1990s, including multiple recordings of the "Five Dances for Organ" and "The Alexander Variations" for two pipe organs.

While I am no "9/11 Fanatic," I did want to post something to remember the anniversary of the tragedy. These works, all taken from "Eleven Organ Solos" and published by Warner Bros. seemed to fit the need and the time...,