John Franklin Carré was born on October 20, 1894 in Racine Wisconsin and died there in November of 1966. He was an organist in Racine, and was a pupil of the great Clarence Eddy (1851-1937) and of Felix Borowski (1872-1956).
He wrote an astounding three-movement "Sonata Eroica" in 1951, and you can hear a complete performance of it here:
https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/23883
"Nocturnals" was published by J. Fischer & Bro. in 1954. It won First Prize in the 1953 Wisconsin Contemporary Composers' Contest sponsored by the Federation of Music Clubs. "Elegy of the Bells" is the first of the two pieces.
It is dedicated: "To my dear friend Rev. Francis P. Ihrman, D. D., Pastor First Presbyterian Church, Racine."
The work is effective and effective elegiac, making use of both the chimes and carillon.
This sample set, nice as it is, is an early set and has needed "redoing" for a long time.
I hope my listeners will enjoy the work, and overlook some of the issues with the sample set.
More extensive notes about the composer are given in the First Comment.
A photo of the First Presbyterian Church in Racine, the home of both the composer and the dedicatee is attached below.
If anyone is interested in the score, please send me a Direct Message, and I will be glad to send you a scan.
Tomorrow, the second of the "Nocturnals" - "Swans at Eventide."
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