Chorale Prelude on Adore te, devote

Adoro te, devote is one of the five beautiful hymns by St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). The Gregorian chant for this hymn formed the basis for this piece by Healey Willan dating drom 1954.

Although born in England, James Healey Willan spent most of his professional life in Canada, most famously as precentor of the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Toronto. His organ music, especially his choral preludes, is very approachable with a distinct English (Stanford-inspired) style.

The 1877 ‘Father’ Willis organ of Salisbury Cathedral, sampled by Milan Digital Audio, would have been very familiar in sound to the English instruments Willan played before emigrating and is therefore ideally suited to his organ music.