Gerald Near

Synopsis

American composer of organ, choral, and church music

• 1942 born
• Studied music at the University of Michigan
• Choirmaster at Calvary Church (Anglo-Catholic), Rochester, Minnesota
• 1983 moved to Dallas, organist/choirmaster and subsequently Canon Precentor of St. Matthew's Cathedral (Episcopal)
• Composer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John, Denver, Colorado
• Currently residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Choral Director and Cantor at Holy Faith Episcopal Church, director of Aureole Editions

List of Organ Works

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Title	Year
Roulade	1965
Suite for Organ	1966
Passacaglia (Near)	1966
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming	1966
A Triptych of Fugues	1968
Postlude on St. Dunstan’s: He who would valiant be	1968
Preludes on Four Hymn Tunes	1969
Toccata for Organ	1971
Fantasy for Organ	1972
A Wedding Processional	1974
Sinfonia Festiva	1977
Two Preludes for evening service	1991
Choraleworks. Set I : Ten Chorale Preludes for Organ	1995
Choraleworks. Set II : Ten Chorale Preludes for Organ	1995
Saint Augustine's Organbook	1996
Prelude on the Hymntune Picardy: for Organ	1996
Choraleworks. Set III : Ten Chorale Preludes for Organ	1997
Chantworks Set I: Organ Music for the Church Year based upon Gregorian Chant Melodies (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany)	1997
Chantworks Set II: Organ Music for the Church Year based upon Gregorian Chant Melodies (Lent, Passiontide, Easter)	1998
Chantworks Set III: Organ Music for the Church Year based upon Gregorian Chant Melodies (Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, Corpus Christi, Morning, Evening	1998
Deo Gracias: Six Preludes and a Postlude for Organ on Well-known Hymns	1999
Prelude for Easter Morning	2000
Meditations on Byzantine Hymns: for Organ	2000
A Gregorian Liturgical Year	2000
Sonata, Organ Solo	2004
Carillon on a Ukrainian Bell Carol	2006
Sonata Breve	2008
Six Variants on Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen : for Organ Solo	2008
Solemn Prelude on a Theme of Thomas Tallis	2009
Laudes Domini: 10 Hymn Introductions and Harmonizations for Organ, Volume 1	2010
Three Gospel Preludes for Organ (Amazing Grace, Blessed Assurance, In the Garden)	2011
Title	year
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Transcriptions for Organ

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Title	Year
Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress), from Cantata 80 (Transcription of JS Bach)	1996
Two Movements from Cantata 100 (Transcription of JS Bach)	1996
Lobe den Herren, from Cantata 37 (Transcription of JS Bach)	1997
Prelude on the Passion Chorale, from Cantata 135 (Transcription of JS Bach)	1997
Four Slow Pieces for Organ (Transcription of Antonio Vivaldi)	2000
Now Thank We All Our God, from Cantata 80 (Transcription of JS Bach)	2007

Works for Organ and Other Instruments

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Title	Year
Banners: for Two Brass Choirs (trpt. I/II, tenor trb., and bass trb.) and Organ	1992
Suite in Classical Style: for Organ and Flute	1996
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra	1998

Background and General Perspectives on Performing Gerald Near Organ Works

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Registration and Organs

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See the footnote in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the page.

Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

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Recordings

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Free Online

Carillon on a Ukrainian Bell Carol, Gerald Near, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIs74x-K4A, performed by Chris Dekker, at the Cathedral of St Andrew Grand Rapids, Michigan]

"Carillon" by Gerald Near, performed by Dr. Theodore Kiefer

FSPC - 11 April 2010 - Charge and Benedication; Organ Postlude - "Christ is Risen" (Gerald Near).m4v, [1]

Pipedreams, "Getting Near…the music and insights of a prominent American composer of organ and church music, Gerald Near, February 2, 2015". The program consists of:

• GERALD NEAR: Toccata –Mary Preston (1992 Fisk/Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX) Pipedreams Archive (r. 7/1997)
• NEAR: A Triptych of Fugues –Aaron David Miller (1979 Fisk/House of Hope Presbyterian Church, Saint Paul, MN).
• NEAR: Three Anthems (To Thee, o Lord, have I lifted up my soul; They that wait upon the Lord; Sing Alleluia) –House of Hope Motet Choir/Matthew Culloton, director; Aaron David Miller (1878 Merklin/House of Hope Presbyterian Church) Pipedreams Archive (r. 4/29/12)
• NEAR: Carillon on a Ukrainian Bell Carol – Larry Visser (1996 Austin-Allen/LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, MI) LaGrave 2013
• NEAR: Organ Sonata –Jeremy Filsell (Skinner & Aeolian-Skinner/Washington National Cathedral, District of Columbia) Raven 942
• NEAR: 3 Chorale-preludes (Liebster Jesu; Freu dich sehr; Nun danket alle Gott) – Steven Egler (1997 Casavant/Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI) Prestant 1011
• NEAR: 2 Chorale-preludes (Veni Emmanuel; A solis ortus cardine) –Elwood Bernas (1889 Whalley & Genung/1st Presbyterian Church, Port Townsend, WA) FPCPT 2006
• NEAR: Suite in Classic Style –Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman, flute; Bruce Neswick (1988 Wilhelm/St. Alban’s School, Washington, DC) Raven 840
• NEAR: Air with Variations, fr Sonata Breve–Pamela Decker (1987 Kney/University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN) Pipedreams Archive (r. 10/27/08)
• NEAR: St. Mark’s Service (Magnificat & Nunc dimittis) –Llandaff Cathedral Choir/Michael Smith, director; Michael Hoeg (1937 Norman & Beard/Llandaff Cathedral, Wales) Priory 551
• NEAR: Choraleworks, Set I (Westminster Abbey; Moscow; Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland; Erhalt uns, Herr; O Welt, ich muss dich lassen; Mit Freuden zart; Herzliebster Jesu; In dulci jubilo; Salzburg) –Steven Egler (1997 Casavant/Central Michigan University) White Pine 203

Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

In his dissertation The Pedagogical Use of Gerald Near's Chantworks, Christopher Fresolone presents information concerning technical aspects and performance practice of Gerald Near's works.

Notes

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