John McCabe: Pastorale Sostenuto for organ (1965)

Whilst recently revisiting Alun Hoddinott’s Intrada for organ, I discovered John McCabe’s short Pastorale Sostenuto in the same volume. It was written in 1965 as a commission from Oxford University Press for the first of two volumes of Easy Modern Organ Music, which was duly published in 1967. Other works in this album included Kenneth Leighton’s Fanfare, William Mathias’s Chorale, Christopher Brown’s Nocturne, and Arnold Cooke’s Impromptu.

John McCabe (1939-2015) was a distinguished British composer and concert pianist. Born in Huyton, Liverpool, he was inspired by the music-filled environment of his childhood. He wrote over 150 works, including symphonies, ballets, and solo piano pieces. Notable compositions include the orchestral song cycle Notturni ed Alba and the Concerto for Orchestra, which brought him international recognition. McCabe also served as the director of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990.

Apart from the Pastorale, McCabe also wrote a Nocturne for the companion series, Modern Organ Music Book 1, (1965). Important works for Novello include the Sinfonia (1961), Dies Resurrectionis (1963), Le Poisson Magique (1964), Johannis Partita (1964), Prelude (in Music before Service) (1964), and Elegy (1965). McCabe's organ music often features intricate counterpoint and rich harmonic language, demonstrating his profound understanding of the instrument's capabilities.

The Pastorale Sostenuto is a miniature, lasting for about three minutes. It is written in binary form. A solo flute-like figure is heard in the opening bars, which then dominates the piece:

Played initially by the right hand only, it is joined by soft, dissonant chords on the swell. Repeated over and over again it is soon accompanied with a counterpoint of the above figure in inversion. There are several changes of time signature, between 6/8 and 9/8. The ‘trio’ section is based on an eight-note figure:

This is reiterated eight times supported by triads in root position or first inversion. The final part of the work reprises the opening theme, this time in the tenor register. It is complemented by chords of the seventh, before the Pastorale concludes with a long, sustained chord and a final allusion to the main theme in the upper register.

The impact of this piece is well summed up by the word “hypnotic” or even “minimalist.” It is not hard to imagine a classical background revelling in Theocritean shepherds or even Pan himself.

The John McCabe Bio-Bibliography (Stewart R. Craggs, Greenwood Press, 1991) gives little information about this work. Apart from the publication data, the author was unable to trace the premiere performance. To my knowledge, it has not been recorded for LP or CD.

Listen to John McCabe’s Pastorale Sostenuto on YouTube, here. It is played by Rhys Arvidson on the William Anderson Pipe Organ located in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Williamstown, Melbourne Australia.