Prelude on "Oh Tannenbaum"

Gordon Lawson (Scotland 1931)
was educated in Glasgow and later in N. Wales.

In 1950, he went up to St. Johns College, Cambridge and gained his MA and B.Mus.
In 1954 he was appointed to Ellesmere College, moving to Malvern in 1962 to become assistant Director of Music and to Brighton in 1966 as Director of Music.
He retired from teaching in 1987 to devote more time to composition and to travel abroad as an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music.

Until 1987 there was little time for composition though his arrangement of 'L'il Liza Jane' first published in 1957 has been much used in competitions and festivals for amateur choirs.
Since 1987, hardly a day passes without putting pen to paper and he has more than 150 compositions to his name, many of which are published.

"O Tannenbaum" is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree by the early 20th century and sung as a Christmas carol.

The modern lyrics were written in 1824, by the Leipzig organist, teacher and composer Ernst Anschütz. A Tannenbaum is a fir tree. The lyrics do not actually refer to Christmas, or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Instead, they refer to the fir's evergreen quality as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness.

Gordon dedicated this piece to a friend and asked me to play and record it to a cd for her.

I did so, bearing in mind, that my command of an English organ is far beneath par and that the layout of my console is also not really helping.

Nevertheless you can get an idea of the piece, Lawson still writes every day and probably this piece will be published in England or America before Christmas 2019.

As I played it from manuscript, I cannot share the music.