for solo organ This virtuoso showpiece, dating from 2002, is worthy to stand alongside the Toccatas of Gigout and Boëllmann, and makes a superb conclusion to a service or recital on any size of organ. Its harmonic language is strongly tonal, but enlivened along the way by spicy touches, while its near-constant semiquaver motion lends it a breathless rhythmic drive.

Gerre Hancock (1934-2012)

Gerre Hancock studied at the University of Texas, the Sorbonne, and the Union Theological Seminary, New York, with teachers including Jean Langlais and Nadia Boulanger. He held church appointments at St Bartholomew's, New York, Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, and St Thomas's, Fifth Avenue, New York, where he achieved international acclaim as Organist and Master of Choristers from 1971 to 2004. Widely active as a recitalist, conductor, and composer, he was also on the faculty at the Juilliard School and Yale University. His renown as an improviser at the organ led to the publication of his textbook, Improvising: How to Master the Art.