Wild Ouest Toccata; PDF

The Wild Ouest Toccata began its life in 1969 as The Far-West Toccata, when, at 18 years old, I decided to compose a Toccata. The key and time signatures were inspired by Marcel Dupré’s Toccata from his Deuxième Symphonie, which I later recorded on the Naxos label. In July 1975, I had just finished my improvisation academy with Pierre Cochereau at his home in Nice. Pierre was curious about my Far-West Toccata, which I would record a few days later at St-Sernin de Toulouse, with his son Jean-Marc by my side. I played it for him on his home organ, and he was quite complimentary, particularly about its structure. He also suggested that I “add more modulations.” I did so for the recording, which soon came out on an LP of American organ music (Disques FY 025). I never published the piece, as I was not completely satisfied. However, over the years, several valued organist friends encouraged me to take another look. The result was a complete revision in 2025, fixing what I didn’t like and keeping what I did like. This 50th anniversary edition is now available.

Duration: 4'30
Difficulty 8.5/10

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Hear an excerpt of the original recording, followed by two excerpts of the newly revised ending.