The Holy City

I guess this may not seem like the "sort" of piece that I usually play, but having really "listened" to this song a few weeks ago, it's emotional appeal has really grabbed me.

It is composed by Michael Maybrick (1841-1913), who actually wrote it under the pseudonymn of Stephen Adams.

A very interesting bit of trivia is that Michael Maybrick's brother, James, was at one time THE leading suspect of being Jack-the-Ripper! He even wrote an extensive diary that caused a sensation when it was published in the 1980s. In reality, he was nothing more than a wannabe-Jack, but it's still a fascinating bit of useless knowledge...

Maybrick was an organist of some skill, as he was a student of Best, and held a number of church postions,

This arrangement was made by Myles B. Foster (1851-1922) who was the son of the English watercolorist and illustrator of the same name, Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899). Foster was Organist of the Foundling Hospital (1880-1892) and later spent a lot of time in South Africa and Australia as an examiner for Trinity College in London. He is known to have made a large number of skillful arrangements and transcriptions, as shown in this masterful version.

For this performace, I've tried to give it the "full cathedral treatment," and I've selected a little "slower than normal tempo," in order to bring out the majesty in the simple, but grand melody and harmonies.

For whatever reason, I just felt compelled to play this, and while I DO hear it, it's not "right," and it's very heartbreaking to have to "imagine" the sound of it.

As I said, I took this quite slowly, and I put my whole heart into this...