AN ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN ORGAN MUSIC, VOL. 3 - MUSIC OF CHARLES IVES AND LEO SOWERBY - Janice Beck, organ

An Anthology of American Organ Music Vol III Liner notes

Charles Ives (1874-1954) and Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) wrote their works for organ largely out of the necessity of providing music for their own use in church services. Ives was indeed a church organist, but he has been known primarily for a variety of activities ranging from composition to an insurance business. Sowerby, on the other hand, spent much of his life as organist and choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. James in Chicago and spent his last years as director of the College of Church Musicians in Washington, D. C. Much of their organ music was derived from hymn tunes and has been used widely in recent years both in the context of church and recital.