Daniel Pinkham

Synopsis

American composer, organist, and harpsichordist

• 1923 born in Lynn, Massachusetts
• 1939 was powerfully impressed by the "clarity and simplicity" of the music at a concert by the Von Trapp Family singers.
• 1940–44 studied composition with A.T. Merritt, A.T. Davison, Piston and Copland at Harvard University, and with Hindemith, Honegger and Barber at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. He studied organ with E. Power Biggs.
• 1941-47 studied composition with Nadia Boulanger.
• 1946 began teaching at the Boston Conservatory.
• 1958-2000, for 42 years, Pinkham was the organist of King's Chapel in Boston. A new Fisk organ was installed there in 1964.
• 1959 began teaching at the New England Conservatory, which he continued throughout the remainder of his life.
• 2006 died in Matick, Massachusetts

Daniel Pinkham was a prolific composer, and wrote a large number of works for organ. Much of his work is influenced by church liturgy and Biblical stories; most of his music is religious in nature, and he composed extensively for choir and/or organ. Many of his organ works involve little or no use of the organ pedals, with the exception of his work, Pedals for organ and timpani, which uses the pedals exclusively. He has written many compositions for organ plus solo instrument, organ plus a small ensemble, and even organ with a combination of other instruments and electronic tape. Most of his organ works consist of collections of short pieces. Corliss Arnold mentions Pinkham's two Concertantes as being significant; these pieces are works written for larger ensembles with organ. According to Oxford Music Online, Pinkham was influenced by church modes, Hindemith and Stravinsky, 16th-century counterpoint, and 17th-century forms. He "employed chromaticism and dodecaphonic techniques and investigated new tonal and intervallic relationships, [but] he never used serial techniques dogmatically, instead combining 12-note rows with tonal elements." His works have been commissioned by major institutions, and have been widely performed.

For details, see the Wikipedia article on Daniel Pinkham.

List of Organ Works

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Opus	Title	Year
Op. ??	Christmas Cantata	year
Op. ??	Wedding Cantata	year
Op. ??	Concertante for Organ, Brass, and Percussion	year
Op. ??	Sonata no. 1 for Organ and Strings	year
Op. ??	Sonata no. 2 for Organ and Strings	1966
Op. ??	Sonata no. 3 for Organ and Strings	year
Op. ??	Revelations	year
Op. ??	Wondrous Love: 5 Variations	year
Op. ??	The Four Winds	year
Op. ??	Liturgies for Organ, Timpani, and Electronic Tape	year
Op. ??	Title	year

Background and General Perspectives on Performing These 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

Sonata no. 1 for organ and strings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJpTm2E5oEw

Toccata, from Revelations for Organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SYK8DAzfNA

Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

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Notes

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