Bosworth - Organ

John Stanley (1713-1786) was a British composer conductor and organist. Having learnt to play the Organ at the age of seven he became the youngest person to ever obtain a B.Mus. degree from Oxford at the age of 17. He was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1779 and wrote many odes for the monarch. However most of his music has now been lost and only his Organ works have remained in popular use to this day.Prelude and Bell Allegro for Organ have been edited and arranged by the American composer Patrick Williams (b. 1939).

The third in a series of works for Organ students the Third Easy Album for the Organ contains excerpts and movements of works arranged for the student Organist by Patrick Williams.The pieces are in the keys of C G D and D minor and the composers are Arne J S Bach Buxtehude Corelli Guilmant Liszt Pachelbel Walther and Samuel Wesley.

From 1772 onward Mozart wrote 17 short single movement works called Epistle Sonatas designed to be played in the Eucharist service between the Epistle and the Gospel. The Epistle Sonata in C (K.336) was the last of these written in 1780. Shortly afterwards the Archbishop decreed that a motet or hymn should be sung instead and they fell into disuse. The Epistle Sonata in C was originally scored for two Violins Basso Continuo and Baroque Organ. It has been arranged for solo Organ (with pedals) by Nigel Davison.

The Tune in E is Thalben-Ball’s own invention. In the Style of John Stanley almost certainly refers to the many works Stanley wrote for Organ that start with a slow short introduction followed by a Trumpet voluntary as in Tune in E.John Stanley was a contemporary of Handel’s who often came to the Temple Church to hear him play. Stanley directed many of Handel’s oratorios and continued to direct performances at Covent Garden of oratorios of other composers after Handel’s death.George Thalben-Ball succeeded Sir Henry Walford Davies in the position of Organist of Temple Church and remained there for nearly sixty years. In the 1920’s he led the choir to international famewith a recording of Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer and continued to make many recordings with them. His Elegy for Organ is a popular piece in the repertoire and was played at the funeral of Diana Princess of Wales.

First Easy Album For The Organ arranged by Patrick Williams including fifteen easy compositions by different composers including Handel and Bach.

Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata In B Minor arranged here for Organ by Patrick Williams.

Albert W Ketèlbey's most popular works appear to have been a series of Orchestral tone poems like In a Persian Market that incorporate exoticism and demonstrate the high quality of his Orchestration. The Orchestral version of this piece included a Vocal line of male Voices calling for baksheesh which is absent from the Organ arrangement.Composer and arranger Albert W Ketèlbey is now almost unknown except for his work Bells Across the Meadows but until the time of the Second World War he strode the country’s musical stage like a giant of light musical entertainment. In 1929 he was declared ‘Britain’s greatest composer’ according to the number of performances of his works. Over the course of his career he was a church Organist musical director at London’s Vaudeville Theatre editor to several music publishing firms and Music Director of the Columbia Gramophone Company.