Martin Dalby

Programme Note

Fantasia after Philip Rosseter (1964) Martin Dalby
Scoring: small organ without pedals

Dedication: For Donald Hawksworth and the Little Organ at St Mary's.

Programme note:
The starting point for this Fantasia is Philip Rosseter's song What then is love but mourning? It is published in a book of ayres produced by Rosseter and Thomas Campion in 1602. The Fantasia draws freely on Rosseter's material though it is cast quite clearly into a form consisting of an introduction Ñ theme if you like Ñ followed by a set of four variations each a fantasia in its
own right and therefore of very different lengths. A repeat of the first variation seves as a Finale.

The work was written in Rome in 1964 for "Donald Hawksworth" and the little organ at St Mary's. The little organ in question is the delightful Samuel Green organ in St Mary's Carden Place, Aberdeen.

Publisher: Novello & Company Limited, Hire or Sale
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Note: Donald Hawksworth was once a music master at Aberdeen Grammar School. There he taught Dalby music. He, Dalby and Dalby's father John were good friends and shared their hobby of climbing the Scottish mountains together on many occasions.

Dalby was a chorister at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Aberdeen during his schooldays. He remembers the restoration of the Samuel Green organ in which his father played so important a part. He remembers too, Herbert Howells writing Dalby's Fancy and Dalby's Toccata for his father with the Samuel Green organ specifically in mind. John Dalby gave frequent recitals and broadcasts on this organ.

St Mary's Episcopal Church was badly damaged by bombing during the second world war. The east end and the organ were destroyed. "A benefactor's gift of the Samuel Green organ made some amends for the disaster. Within its Chippendale Case it stands gracefully as alasting reminder of Samuel Green, the notable craftsman who built it in 1778.

Seperately the stops of this organ are not of outstanding quality. Nor does the instrument possess the full chorus that other organs of its time display. Yet, innumerable possible permutations in registration make it capable of delight."

(J.B.Dalby: Memoirs About Organs, Essay No. 222)

The instrument consists of one manual without pedals

For more detail about the organ see John B. Dalby's Memoirs About Organs

Copies of it are lodged with:
Scottish Music Information Centre,
1 Bowmont Gardens,
Glasgow, G12 9LR.

Tel: 0141 334 6393
Fax: 0141 337 1161

or

British Institute of Organ Studies,
Department of Music,
University of Reading,
35 Upper redlands Road,
Reading RG1 5JE.

Tel: 0734 318416
Fax: 0734 318412