Music
Garth Baxter is noted as a modern traditionalist composer. This is a style that combines the traditions of form and clear melodic writing with the use of contemporary approaches to harmonies and other elements. He has composed works for various performance mediums, ranging from intimate solo and small group settings to larger ensembles such as orchestra and concert band. His compositions have been performed around the world.

Organ Compositions

* Click a song title to view (or hide) a description.

Fantasy on Were You There  YouTube

4 minutes, Intermediate. Alymar $6

A free setting of the familiar Lenten spiritual. There are numerous allusions to the main theme interspersed with episodes. The traditional theme is presented with non-traditional harmonies (tonal) and changing meters. Homophonic and polyphonic textures are freely interspersed in this composition.

This has been a moving piece for audiences and organists.

"Very beautifully written and captures the reflective and contemplative nature of the hymn as well as a quiet sorrowful lament. Very moving reflection for Holy Week."
- Hollis Thoms, Composer

"Really lovely, with great color/register changes. And I loved the counterpoint."
-Ronald Pearl, Composer

Hymn Fantasia on Prospect  YouTube

4 minutes, Intermediate. Alymar $6

A free setting of the hymn tune Prospect.

Contemporary, but tonal harmonies are used in this setting that features homophonic and polyphonic textures.

Still Falls the Rain YouTube

7-8 minutes. Medium difficulty for SATB and Organ Alymar $20*

"In Baxter's Still Falls the Rain, the Kühn Choir of Prague is joined by organist Linda Sitková for a lyrical, uplifting piece based on a well-known poem by Edith Sitwell. Though it concerns the suffering experienced by people during WWII, the text and Baxter's music ultimately celebrate the indomitable spirit and hope that have enabled people to survive the most devastating circumstances."
Textura - February, 2021

"Baxter’s setting of Edith Sitwell’s “Still Falls the Rain” for chorus and organ begins in darkness—Sitwell wrote the poem during the London Blitz of 1940—with only occasional flickers of light. Baxter’s complex horizontal layering of voices against the ominous backdrop of the organ paints a vivid musical portrait of hopelessness. With the final stanza of Sitwell’s poem, “The sounds the voice…,” the piece turns toward hope and one voice emerges from the crowd (presumably the voice of Christ). It’s a powerfully dramatic moment, effective and memorable in its simplicity."
Steven Jude Tietjen Opera News August 2023

A work of intense beauty and power. The poem, written by Dame Edith Sitwell during the blitz of London during the Second World War, is a moving tribute to the enduring love of Christ. The form of the composition is through-composed but there are returning thematic ideas, particularly the one that is associated with the title of the poem, which returns many times during the work.