Peter Racine Fricker, a descendant of the French playwright Jean Racine, initially intended a career in the merchant navy but poor eyesight led him to music.
Instruments
The composition of Fricker's Ricercare, Op. 40, was defined by the bright tone-colours of an 18th-century organ by Johann & Franz Schnitger in Zwolle, Holland.
Recording & Production
This album features Tom Winpenny on the organ of Bridlington Priory, a large parish church in England with an organ originally built in 1889 by the Belgian firm Anneessens.
Performer Biography
Tom Winpenny, the organist on this recording, is the Assistant Master of the Music at St Albans Cathedral and has won First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2008 Miami International Organ Competition.
Compositional Technique
Fricker's organ works often incorporate serial procedures as a means rather than a strict method, sometimes closing on a C major chord despite being largely atonal.
Composer Biography
Fricker's studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the RAF as a radio operator and later as an intelligence officer in India.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Fricker's music often employed a modified serial technique and was characterized by a well-wrought, largely contrapuntal style, reflecting his precise and fastidious character.
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