John Dunstable was the greatest English composer of the first half of the fifteenth century and was at one time credited with writing a carol which has become known as the Agincourt Song, praising God for Henry V's famous victory. This carol has become adopted as a hymn tune, known by the original opening words, 'Deo Gracias'.

John Weaver lists his hobbies as railroads and mountain climbing, appropriate perhaps for one who has built his musical career around the mightiest of musical instruments, the organ. He wrote this Passacaglia in 1978 for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations for the state trumpets at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City.

from notes by Ian Carson © 1988