Ken Cowan plays Marcel Dupré (1886-1971): Variations sur un vieux Noël, Op. 20 at Rice University

The Variations on a Noël, Opus 20 were purportedly written while Dupré was traveling by train in early 1920s America, playing recitals across the country. Dupré greatly enjoyed the pipe organs he found here, whose consoles permitted him more instantaneous changes of registration than the beloved Cavaillé-Coll instruments he knew in France. The ten contrasting variations, which present a variety of interesting coloristic and technical possibilities, are based on the familiar French Christmas Carol “Noël nouvelet”. The third, sixth and eighth are canons at the octave, a double canon at the fourth and fifth, and a canon at the second, respectively. The final variation is an exhilarating fugato and toccata which builds to the organ's full resources. C.B. Fisk and Rosales Organ Builders have collaborated on just one instrument, a monumental organ in French Romantic style for Rice University, designed in collaboration with then Professor of Organ Clyde Holloway. Installation was completed during 1996-97 in Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Since 2012 Professor of Organ Ken Cowan has headed the organ performance program at Rice, where this landmark instrument is in continuous use for study and performance.