Berceuse in A Major

William G. Ross (1881-1926), who also composed under the pseudonym, Eric Webster, was born in London, and had been organist of Christchurch, Marylebone from 1901, but was invalided to South Africa after the First World War. There he worked for Johannesburg Radio.

He is something of a "Man of Mystery" as he may have been born in Edinburgh, and reasons why he used a pseudonym are not known! ;-)

I received this lovely piece yesterday from our member, "voxcoelestis" in Hamburg. THANK YOU, Mike! This performance is dedicated to you! :-)

Now, I also dedicate this to our member, "ChesterKingsbury" who uploaded the score to IMSLP! THANK YOU, Bruce!

"Berceuse in A Major" was published by Novello in 1930 as part of it's "Selected Pieces for the Organ, Vol. One" series.

It is a wonderful piece, but highly "unusual" for a berceuse!

The dynamic range is extensive going from VERY soft to VERY LOUD (almost!), and I don't think that I've ever come across another "lullaby piece" that makes use of the Solo tuba! Well, THIS one does!

There is a wonderfully nostalgic feeling about this, and you'll need to be smooth with your registrations if you're going to play this.

The REAL WORKOUT in this is the almost constant opening and closing of the Swell box! Of course it must be subtle, but to leave these directions out would diminish the quality and effectiveness of the piece.

It's the sort of piece that would seem "busy and noisy" if you were standing next to the console while it was played, as the constant movement of the player's feet, on and off the swell box, could be distracting.

My organ shoes are ALWAYS very scarred and "beat up" on the toes. It's not from pedaling, but from my obsessive manipulation of the expression pedals! So, THIS piece is right up my alley!

THANKS again to Mike and Bruce for sharing this great piece, the score of which is attached below, as well as photo of Christchurch, Marylebone, where Ross/Webster was organist.

This is upload 1998! :-)