Partita on “Ascending Voices” (2020)

John G. Barr (b. 1938) — Partita on “Ascending Voices” (2020) for organ

Partita on “Ascending Voices” (2020) is based on a hymn tune by James E. Clemens (2015) that sets a text by Gracia Grindal (2009), “My Spirit, Dry as Desert Land.” The partita begins with a harmonization (by Barr) of the original hymn melody followed by five variations.

John G. Barr (b. 1938) was born in Myrtle Point, Oregon. After beginning piano lessons at the age of six, he began organ and composition study in college. He graduated in 1960 from Manchester College in northern Indiana, receiving a B.S. in Music Education. He received masters and doctoral degrees in sacred music from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where his teachers included Donald Coats and Robert S. Baker for organ and Joseph Goodman for composition. Barr was music teacher at Hillcrest School for Missionary Children in Jos, Nigeria, 1962–65; Organist/Choir Director at University Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI, 1965–68; and Professor of Organ and Piano at Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, 1968–2003 retiring as Professor Emeritus. For much of this time he was also been organist at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. He has given a number of organ recitals, mainly in Virginia, and has numerous organ preludes published by publishers including Warner Bros., H.W. Gray, and Wayne Leupold Editions.

Published by Leupold Editions in “The Organist’s Companion” (January 2022)