Kenton Coe

For tonight, I have a new upload to YouTube: my prelude from the Midnight Mass [the link is further down this page]. It is a suite of six Christmas Carol settings by the Tennessee composer Kenton Coe. His website is here. I recommend that you visit it, if only to see the portrait of him and read his “random thoughts” on the homepage. Here is one:

I only trust a music that is a language between the composer and the listener: sharing an intellectual and spiritual experience. That music can be as simple as the simplest mountain carol, or as complicated as a piece by Elliot Carter. The only way to appreciate music is to listen to it, and listen to it, and listen to it. If it is in an unfamiliar style, keep listening. I had to play the recording of the Ives’ Concord Sonata fourteen times to begin to understand what it was about, and it was worth the effort!

This is something I am proud to put on the Net. It is about twenty-five minutes of music, and well worth the time to listen to it. I have played these pieces for twenty years and more, and they remain my favorite settings of these carols, by far.

Mr. Coe is one of the small number of Real Composers whom I have met. For many years, we lived in neighboring cities. He is very gracious, and has always encouraged me in my work with choirs and the organ.

I exchanged e-mails with Mr. Coe earlier this fall (our choir will be doing one of his anthems in 2016), and I told him that upon reflection, he is one of the main influences on my musical style. I can offer a composer no higher compliment, other than to perform his music.

Kenton Coe: Six Organ Preludes, Book II (Christmas Carols)
(composed in 1988)

Joy to the world
Puer nobis nascitur
Venite adoremus
Rosa mystica
Silent night
God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Artwork:
Angels appearing before the Shepherds (Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1911)
The Nativity (Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1520)
The Adoration of the Kings (Peter Breughel the Elder, c. 1556)
Virgin and Child (Madonna of Humility) – Andrea Mantegna, 1490