"My composing has always taken great inspiration from all the
music I most love and admire, in particular whatever has been recently
preoccupying me.
My first huge influence was Chopin, then a tremendous encounter with
Hindemith, a strong and everlasting current of Bach, another important
encounter with Duruflé, and Alain, Vierne and Widor. The varying
amount to which each one influences me is according to what I have
been learning and listening to.
Vierne's Pièces de Fantasie appeal to me strongly because
of their individual wholeness and perfection - their structure, language,
texture, design, coloristic effects, and character. Also, Vierne has
a dry and very charming humor that I seldom find in other organ composers.
But Widor is at least as important to me now for his intellect, his
grand structures, his experiments in texture, and his intensity.
I have more recently become fond of much English organ music and
feel drawn to exploring its qualities. I rejoice in discovering how
my taste can change over the years and how my compositional palette
is widened as a result."
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