Herbert Howells

Five Pieces for Organ by Herbert Howells

Five Pieces for Organ by Herbert Howells arranged by Robert Fielding from Howells' Clavichord. Ralph's Pavane Patrick's Siciliano Malcolm's Vision Finzi's Rest Dyson's Delight These five pieces represent a range of musical expression in a collection of miniatures intended as gestures of respect and friendship for Howells' close friends and colleagues. The poignant Finzi's Rest written on the day following Gerald Finzi's death, 'on the morrow of 27th September, 1956' and the Pavane for Ralph Vaughan Williams, who's claim that he could not play the pieces was an invitation to HH to visit and play them for him; these demonstrate the personal connections that share a similarity to another work dedicated to 'my Friends pictured within' written in 1899 by Edward Elgar. 'It will be immediately obvious to both player and listener, that these five pieces transfer to the organ remarkably well, giving the player a greater range of dynamics whilst retaining the intimacy within the pieces when using the quieter stops of the organ. Howells' Tudor idiom transcribes with the ease with which composers of that earlier era transferred their music between instruments!' Robert Fielding