Toccatas and Fugues on Hymns by European Women Composers

Give of Your Best by Charlotte Barnard opens with toccata figures with a full statement of the hymn melody in the pedal. A four-voice fugue follows with toccata interspersions and finishes with a short toccata section with the melody in the left hand.

Very little is known of the life of Frances Chattock (1818-1901). Suite on Jubilee is based on Chattock’s hymn Ye Boundless Realms of Joy, known as Jubilee. The Suite opens with a proclamation using gestures of the opening measures of the hymn tune. A two-part pedal section introduces the entire hymn tune, and then ends with the opening proclamation. The next movement uses canon at the octave as the unifying factor.  The final movement is a rhythmic toccata with the hymn melody in the pedal.

Who is on the Lord’s Side? by C. Luise Reichardt opens with an improvisatory-fantasia style, followed by a toccata with the hymn tune in the pedal. A four-voice fugue evolves interspersed with the improvisatory-fantasia material, and toccata elements.