Prelude, Toccata and Postlude for Carillon

Solo work for carillon

Prelude, Toccata and Postlude

for Carillon Solo

A compact solo carillon work in three titled gestures, moving from invocation to kinetic brilliance and resonance after the final strike.

Year 2002
Duration 7′
Scoring Solo
Carillon
Premiere New York
2006

Architecture

Three gestures. The carillon becomes a resonant instrument of distance, ceremony, velocity and echo.

Sections

  • Prelude

    An opening gesture of resonance and address.

  • Toccata

    A more kinetic central gesture, shaped by attack, motion and brilliance.

  • Postlude

    A closing resonance, after-sound and architectural release.

Work Information

Full Title
Prelude, Toccata and Postlude
Scoring
For carillon solo.
Year
2002
Duration
7′
Form
Prelude, toccata and postlude for solo carillon.
First Performance
June 2006, New York.
Performance
9 August 2006, Hamburg, NDR / Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, David Maker, carillon.
Publisher Note
No dedicated current Boosey work page or Boosey purchase page was found for this specific carillon work.

The Work

Prelude, Toccata and Postlude is a solo work for carillon composed in 2002. The title suggests a tripartite architecture: an opening gesture, a central section of motion and a closing resonance.

The carillon gives the work a public and architectural dimension. Its sound is both percussive and suspended, immediate in the attack yet transformed by resonance, space and distance.

In this medium, the idea of a postlude becomes especially vivid. The music does not simply end; it remains in the air, carried outward by the instrument’s bells.

A carillon triptych of attack, motion and after-sound, written for an instrument that turns resonance into architecture.
  • Form Prelude, toccata and postlude.
  • Duration Approximately 7 minutes.
  • Forces Solo carillon.

Premiere

The Sikorski catalogue lists the first performance of Prelude, Toccata and Postlude in June 2006 in New York.

A later listed performance took place on 9 August 2006 in Hamburg at NDR / Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, performed by David Maker, carillon.

Context

The carillon occupies an unusual place among solo instruments. It is performed by one musician, but its sound is public, spatial and architectural, often heard across a campus, city square or tower space.

Auerbach’s title places the work within a lineage of formal musical archetypes while allowing the carillon’s distinct sonority to transform them. The prelude opens a space; the toccata activates it; the postlude lets it resound.

Source Note

The work is listed in the Sikorski catalogue as a 2002 work for carillon, duration 7′, with first performance in June 2006 in New York.

No dedicated current Boosey work page, Boosey purchase page, YouTube performance or Spotify recording for this specific carillon work was found during this search.

Online Materials

Public source and reference links related to Prelude, Toccata and Postlude for solo carillon.

Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski logo

Publisher and Materials

Sikorski / Boosey & Hawkes catalogue source. The work is listed in the Sikorski catalogue and Boosey / Sikorski worklist as a solo carillon work from 2002. No dedicated current Boosey work page or Boosey purchase page was found during this search, so no publisher or sales buttons are included here.