Charles-Marie Widor - Toccata (from Symphony for Organ No. 5)

- Composer: Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (21 February 1844 -- 12 March 1937) - Performer: Frederick Hohman - Year of recording: 2008 (Live on the Schantz pipe organ at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, USA) Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1, written in 1879. The fifth movement of Widor’s Symphony for Organ No. 5 is often referred to as just “Widor’s Toccata“ because it is his most famous piece, it only lasts around six minutes. Its fame in part comes from its use as recessional music at wedding ceremonies. The melody of the composition is based upon an arrangement of arpeggios which form phrases, initially in F, moving in fifths through to C major, G major, etc. Each bar consists of one phrase. The melody is complemented by syncopated chords, forming an accented rhythm. The phrases are contextualised by a descending bassline beginning with the 7th tone of each phrase key. For example, where the ph