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Of Light and Solace

André Lamproye composer
Guy de Lioncourt composer
Wilmer Welsh composer
Chris DeBlasio composer
David Sampson composer
Calvin Hampton composer

Paul Cohen Conn-O-Sax & soprano saxophone
Andrew Henderson organ

Release Date: August 2, 2024
Catalog #: RR8107
Format: Digital
20th Century
Chamber
Organ
Saxophone

Paul Cohen’s OF LIGHT AND SOLACE highlights music by several 20th century composers whose work is deeply engaged with both the tradition and innovation of classical music. Evocative, contemplative, and teeming with emotional depth, the works presented in this Ravello Records release explore and expand upon the liturgical canon, offering instrumental expressions in Gregorian Chant, fresh takes on the iconic Amazing Grace, and more. Cohen pairs a unique selection of saxophones with organ to bring this music to life including his Conn-O-Sax, a bold, innovative saxophone made by the Conn Company for a very limited time in 1928.

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Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Hommage à St. Hadelin (1988): Entrée Solennelle André Lamproye Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 6:11
02 Hommage à St. Hadelin (1988): Meditation André Lamproye Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 3:19
03 Hommage à St. Hadelin (1988): Sortie-Final André Lamproye Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 3:23
04 Trois Mélodies Grégoriennes (1924): Clemens Rector Guy de Lioncourt Paul Cohen, Conn-O-Sax; Andrew Henderson, organ 2:31
05 Trois Mélodies Grégoriennes (1924): Puer natus est Guy de Lioncourt Paul Cohen, Conn-O-Sax; Andrew Henderson, organ 1:49
06 Trois Mélodies Grégoriennes (1924): Pascha nostrum Guy de Lioncourt Paul Cohen, Conn-O-Sax; Andrew Henderson, organ 2:07
07 Liturgical Music (1986): Introit Wilmer Hayden Welsh Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 2:26
08 Liturgical Music (1986): Kyrie Wilmer Hayden Welsh Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 2:11
09 Liturgical Music (1986): Agnus Dei Wilmer Hayden Welsh Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 2:16
10 Liturgical Music (1986): Gloria Wilmer Hayden Welsh Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 3:44
11 Music for a Short Subject Chris DeBlasio Paul Cohen, soprano saxophone; Andrew Henderson, organ 7:45
12 Tenebrae (2000) David Sampson Paul Cohen, Conn-O-Sax; Andrew Henderson, organ 6:48
13 Variations on Amazing Grace (1983) Calvin Hampton Paul Cohen, Conn-O-Sax; Andrew Henderson, organ 13:22

Recorded August 2023 at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City NY
Recording Session Producer & Engineer Richard Price
Mastering Richard Price

Executive Producer Bob Lord

A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Jeff LeRoy

VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Morgan Hauber
Publicity Chelsea Kornago
Digital Marketing Manager Brett Iannucci

Artist Information

Paul Cohen

Saxophonist

Paul Cohen is a sought-after saxophonist for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals. He has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Richmond Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazunov, Martin, Loeffler, Husa, Dahl, Still, Villa-Lobos, Tomasi, and Cowell. He has also performed with a broad range of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera (NYC), American Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, Greenwich Symphony, and New York Solisti.

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Andrew Henderson

organ

Andrew Henderson has served as Director of Music & Organist at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City since 2005, where he oversees an extensive liturgical and choral program, including the Saint Andrew Chorale and the Saint Andrew Music Society’s Music on Madison concert series. He also serves on the organ faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, as organ instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University, as Associate Organist at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El, and as the Executive Director and principal accompanist of the New York City Children’s Chorus.

Henderson, a native of Thorold, Ontario, holds degrees in music from Cambridge and Yale Universities. While at Cambridge he held the position of Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, and at Yale he completed his graduate studies in organ performance on a full scholarship from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. The recipient of a C.V. Starr Foundation fellowship, he was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Juilliard School in 2007. He was a finalist in the international competition Grand Prix de Chartres in France in 2002 and won first prize in the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ biennial National Organ Playing Competition the following year. Recent performances include organ and continuo playing with the New York Philharmonic, Musica Sacra, Voices of Ascension, and The Oratorio Society of New York. He has been featured as a recitalist and workshop leader at national and regional gatherings of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Fellowship of United Methodists in Worship and Music Arts, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and the American Guild of Organists. His performances have been featured on the radio programs including Pipedreams, With Heart and Voice, and Sounds from the Spires. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, his teachers have included John Tuttle, Barrie Cabena, David Sanger, Thomas Murray, and John Weaver.

Notes

André Lamproye (1931-2005) was a Belgian composer, organist, and teacher who wrote many chamber works with organ. Hommage à St. Hadelin, a suite of six movements, is inspired by Saint Hadelin, a deeply venerated saint from the Walloon diocese of Namur, Belgium.

– Paul Cohen

Guy de Lioncourt (1885-1961) a student of Vincent d’Indy at the turn of the 20th century, was a French composer, organist, and theoretician. His compositions are almost entirely religious in inspiration. Three Gregorian Chants is an original work for alto saxophone and organ from 1924, and is evocative and touching in its haunting simplicity.

– Paul Cohen

Wilmer Welsh (1932-2008) composed a wide range of works including symphonic, chamber, and theater music. He was Professor of Music at Davidson College, North Carolina from 1963–1991. Liturgical Music is a set of seven short pieces from the liturgy cast in a 20th century romantic style. The evocative melodies, bold rhythms, and expressive harmonies create an intriguing atmosphere of emotions and responses.

– Paul Cohen

Chris DeBlasio (1959-1993) was one of America’s most versatile and gifted young composers. He wrote for the stage and chamber music in addition to creating sacred works of soaring beauty and songs of dark humor. He studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music with John Corigliano and Giampaolo Bracali. Music for a Short Subject was written for the American organist Harry Huff, and was the second in a series of three pieces for organ and solo instrument. DeBlasio’s other work for saxophone, Prelude and Fugue, for soprano saxophone and string quintet, was also written in the 1980s. DeBlasio tragically died of AIDS in 1993 at the age of 34.

– Paul Cohen

David Sampson (b. 1951) is one of the truly unique voices of his generation, enjoying performances by major orchestras, noted soloists, and internationally touring ensembles. From 1998 to 2007, he served as Composer-in-Residence of the Colonial Symphony Orchestra and was a recipient of a 2014 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. His extensive output includes commissions and premieres with the National Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Joffrey II Ballet, and the American Brass Quintet. He has been the recipient of major grants including the National Endowment for the Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Chamber Music America. Sampson holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Hunter College, Manhattan School of Music, and the Ecoles d’Art Americaines. His music is widely published and has been recorded on Channel Recordings, Albany Records, and Summit Records.

Sampson writes about Tenebrae: “For 31 years I was Music Director at Brookside Community Church in Brookside NJ. My job was to prepare the Adult Choir to perform service music and anthems for the Sunday morning services along with other yearly celebrations. One of these was the service of Tenebrae. The word “tenebrae” is Latin for shadows and the Tenebrae service often occurs on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. It is a dark and somber event. One year, I hired a string quartet and english horn for Tenebrae and realized that this would be a perfect time to write music for a service I always thought to be deeply profound. Tenebrae was the result. Over the years, the work has been orchestrated into different configurations including conn-o-sax and organ for Paul Cohen. In any of the configurations, the work is contemplative and deeply emotional.”

– Paul Cohen

Calvin Hampton (1938-1984) was born in Kittanning PA and raised in Ravenna OH. He attended Oberlin Conservatory and Syracuse University studying organ and composition. From 1974 to 1983, Hampton played a series of internationally acclaimed weekly concerts at the Calvary Church in New York City. Hampton had twice been a recitalist at National Conventions of the American Guild of Organists and he distinguished himself as an interpreter of 19th and 20th Century music. His compositions for saxophone include Bach’s Fireworks Music and Fugue, both for saxophone quartet, Labyrinth for soprano voice and saxophone quartet, and the Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra.

After an extended battle with AIDS, Hampton died on August 5, 1984, in Port Charlotte FL. Variations on Amazing Grace, originally for english horn and organ, was commissioned in 1983 by Thomas Stacy, english hornist for the New York Philharmonic. Hampton used the verses of Amazing Grace as influences for each variation, but left it to the listener to discern which verse applies to which variation. In many ways, the work can be heard as a poignant tableaux of emotional and physical responses to the ravages of his incurable disease, culminating in an eloquent, spiritual epiphany of acceptance and new direction.

The Hampton estate has approved performances of Variations on Amazing Grace on the conn-o-sax due to the close timbral relationship with the english horn.

– Paul Cohen

The Conn-o-sax (also spelled connosax) is a bold, innovative saxophone made by the Conn Company (Elkhart IN) for a very limited time in 1928. Combining elements of the saxophone, english horn, and heckelphone, Conn attempted to create a new voice for the saxophone. It succeeded brilliantly as a new instrument but failed in the marketplace; we know of only 25 to still exist. Its innovations were numerous; a straight instrument with a pronounced bulb at the bottom, pitched in the key of F (Eb and Bb are traditional for saxophones) and equipped with an extended key range (low A to high G) with a custom mouthpiece. The result is an instrument with a unique timbre, stunning visual appearance, and technical versatility visionary for its time.

Conn introduced and advertised the conn-o-sax with a heavy emphasis on novelty, presumably to woo the Vaudeville clientele. Conn hoped to attract a separate and popular clientele for the conn-o-sax to create a new market. Unfortunately, the instrument was not well received at its introduction, and the anticipated sales never materialized. Despite heavy advertising and dealer promotion, the conn-o-sax simply did not catch on. Conn had badly miscalculated in a number of ways. The novelty aspect of the horn never gained widespread appeal; vaudeville was dying, and the days of the Roaring Twenties were drawing to a close. As the economic collapse of the 1929 Depression deepened, people were less concerned with new and exotic instruments and more concerned with basic necessities. And the conn-o-sax cost as much as a new alto saxophone, so it was an expensive purchase. In addition, there simply was little music available for the F horns. While Conn continued to list the conn-o-sax in the back of their catalogs through the 1930s, there is no mention of it after 1930. It was in production for less than a year.

The conn-o-sax is a woodwind instrument with a sound like no other. There is now a renewed interest in this long forgotten saxophone, whose haunting, brooding tone is especially effective in a concert setting. Despite its rarity and seeming impracticality, it has become the most coveted of rare and vintage saxophones. Possessing a dark, lyrical quality with hints of both the english horn and saxophone, its unique timbre has captivated woodwind players for generations. Its visionary design and tonal qualities are now being heard, seen, and appreciated in both classical and jazz genres. The conn-o-sax has become a new voice in the 21st century.

– Paul Cohen

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Richard Price, engineer/producer; Paul Cohen, saxophones; Andrew Henderson, organ

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Recording session at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church

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Paul Cohen performing at session