INTRODUCTION TO THE PIECES by John Wellingham

The voluntaries, concertos and overtures were all published in engraved scores in the eighteenth century, the voluntaries usually in sets of ten to each volume. In addition, there is an important manuscript source for the voluntaries, known as the Southgate manuscript, which is in the library of the Royal College of Organists in London.
      ‘Voluntary’ was the most popular title for English organ music in the eighteenth century. A voluntary usually had two movements. The first tended to be a slow introduction in an Italianate style, much influenced by Corelli. The standard registration was ‘Diapasons’, which implied the use of the Open and Stopped Diapasons together. Since the Lulworth organ has three Open Diapasons and one Stopped Diapason, many different combinations are possible. The second movement was a fast movement written either for the full organ, or as a solo for the Trumpet, Cornet or Flute stops, with bass accompaniment, similar in character to an instrumental sonata of the period.
      Arrangements of instrumental overtures and concertos were also standard fare for the eighteenth Century keyboard player, on both harpsichord and organ – the dividing line was not clear. I have therefore included a harpsichord sonata by Arne and a trio sonata by Corelli in the programme.

Trumpet Overture
William Croft (1678–1727)
[unmarked] – Adagio – Allegro

Three movements from the Overture to Croft’s Oxford Ode Musicus Apparatus Academicus. The original was scored for trumpet and strings, and I have adapted it for the organ, much as many eighteenth-century organists would have done.

1.         Stopped Diapason (T & B); Principal; Sesquialtera; Swell Trumpet
2.         Open Diapason II
3.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal; Sesquialtera; Swell Trumpet

Concerto in F major, opus 4, no. 5
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Larghetto – Allegro – Alla Siciliana – Presto

Handel’s organ concertos were originally written to be played between the acts of his oratorios. They could be performed either by organ and orchestra or as organ solos, and the versions issued by London publishers allowed for both. This concerto derives from an earlier recorder sonata, and my registration reflects this.

1.         Stopped Diapason (B & T)
2.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute
3.         Flute
4.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute

Voluntary III in C major
William Boyce (c.1710–1779)
Grave – Moderato

Boyce, a pupil of Maurice Greene, was the foremost English composer of the mid�]eighteenth century. His Ten Voluntaries for Organ or Harpsichord forms just a small part of his very wide range of compositions, which include Anthems, Symphonies and Court Odes.

1.         Open Diapason II
2.         Flute; Swell Open Diapason; Swell Trumpet
            (+ Stopped Diapason Bass in last bar)

Voluntary in F major
Maurice Greene (1695–1755)
Andante – Flute (Allegro)

Greene (unfairly known to posterity as Handel’s bellows blower) was a distinguished musician: organist at St Paul’s Cathedral, organist and composer to the Chapel Royal, and Master of the King’s Music. He left two versions of the Allegro movement of this voluntary, and I have chosen to play the F major version in the South-gate manuscript, where the specified registration is for the Flute stop. I have therefore transposed the opening Andante into F major; the published four-movement version was in G, with the Allegro given to the Cornet.

1.         Principal
2.         Flute

Introduction and Fugue in C major
Thomas Augustine Arne (1710–1778)
Largo ma con spirito – Allegro

Arne was himself a Roman Catholic and was for a time the organist of the Sardinian Embassy Chapel in London. He was primarily a violinist, and the leading figure in English theatrical music in the mid�]eighteenth century. These pieces are the first two movements in the manuscript version of the first concerto of his Six Favourite Concertos for the Organ, Harpsichord and Pianoforte. Arne’s concertos were not published until both he and his son had retired; their works were so popular that the two musical entrepreneurs could make more money by ensuring that only they could perform them in public.

1.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal; Twelfth; Fifteenth
2.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal

Voluntary in G major, opus 5, no. 3
John Stanley (1713–1786)
Adagio – Allegro

This work was published in the first set of Stanley’s thirty voluntaries, a wonderful compendium of pieces exploiting the full possibilities of the two�]and-a-half-manual organ of his time. The slow introduction could easily be from a Corelli trio sonata, and the following Cornet solo is more than just a florid treble line and supporting bass, but an equal partnership which is enhanced by the registration.

1.         Open Diapason I; Open Diapason II
2.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute; Sesquialtera

Voluntary in D minor (originally C minor)
Maurice Greene
Largo – Vivace

This voluntary was originally in C minor but the whole piece sounded sour in this form of fifth-comma meantone – not just the odd chord influenced by the temperament. Therefore, I had no hesitation in transposing it to D minor.

1.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T)
2.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute

From the Overture to Ottone
George Frideric Handel
Allegro – Gavotte

Handel was the most eminent musician working in eighteenth�]century London. Many of his orchestral compositions, including these pieces, were published in keyboard arrangements so that music-lovers could play them at home. This was, in a sense, the eighteenth-century equivalent of going to see a popular show, and subsequently buying a CD of the highlights to listen to at home.

1.          Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal
2.          Stopped Diapason (B & T)

Voluntary X in D major
John Bennett (c.1735–1784)
Andante – Allegro

John Bennett was the organist of St Dionis Back-church in the City of London, which housed a three-manual organ by Renatus Harris, the last instrument he constructed. It is interesting to compare the first movement of this Voluntary, in a distinctly Galant style, with the Corellian voluntaries of Greene, Boyce and Stanley.

1.         Open Diapason II; Flute
2.         Open Diapason II; Principal

Sonata in C major, opus 4, no. 1
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Preludio, Largo – Corente, Allegro – Adagio – Allemanda, Presto

English music in the eighteenth century was greatly influenced by the music of Corelli, and his sonatas and concertos were very popular throughout the century and beyond. This sonata is from Six Sonatas Opera IV (for two violins and bass) adapted for the pianoforte or harpsichord by Edward Miller (1735–1807). I have added the adagio to complete the original four�]movement trio sonata.

1.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal
2.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute
3.         Flute; + Stopped Diapason (B & T) at bar 12
4.         Open Diapason II; Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal; – Principal at bar 32

Voluntary in D minor/D major
Peter Prelleur (1705?–1741)
[Unmarked] – [Unmarked]

Peter Prelleur, ‘a person of French extraxtion’ was elected the first organist of Christ Church, Spitalfields, London in 1736. The Spitalfields organ, built by Richard Bridge in 1730, was the largest in England at that time, and this trumpet voluntary would certainly have been played on it. It is a grand piece for a large organ and is to be found in the Southgate manuscript. I play it as a trumpet duet at Lulworth, since the main Trumpet is a full-compass stop, and there is consequently no accompanying stop available for the bass.

1.         Open Diapason I; Open Diapason II
2.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Flute; Trumpet


Sonata VI in G minor/G major
Thomas Augustine Arne
Affettuoso – Presto

This Sonata comes from Arne’s VIII Sonatas or Lessons for the Harpsichord. The Italianate elegance of the Affettuoso contrasts well with the vigour of the Presto.

1.           Stopped Diapason (B & T)
2.           Stopped Diapason (T); Flute; Fifteenth

Concerto in G major, opus 6, no. 3
John Stanley
Adagio – Allegro – Andante – Allegro

Stanley, though blind, enjoyed great fame as a virtuoso organist, combining prominent church appointments with playing in the Pleasure Gardens at Ranelagh and directing oratorios at Drury Lane. In his hands the English organ concerto came to its ultimate fruition.

1.         Open Diapason I
2.         Stopped Diapason (B & T); Principal
3.         Stopped Diapason (B & T)
4.         Stopped Diapason (B & T);­­ Principal

Organ Restoration by William Drake: http://www.williamdrake.co.uk/

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