Three Oriental Sketches, Op. 42, No. 2

Arthur Bird (23 July 1856 – 22 December 1923) was an American composer, for many years resident in Germany. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he studied in Europe and spent a year at Weimar with Franz Liszt. He composed a symphony, 3 orchestral suites; some works for wind instruments alone; some music for the ballet, and chamber music. He also composed for the harmonium.

Bird died in Berlin in 1923.

I did the "Second Oriental Sketch" on a whim, and I thought that it came out pretty well, so, here it is. :-) To be completely honest, I'm not sure if this for the organ or transcribed for the organ from a piano piece.

I don't believe that Bird was himself an organist, but the editor, Archer Gibson, was a very important one.

Archer Gibson (1875-1952) was instructor in organ and composition at the Peabody Conservatory of Music (the school I attended), and served as organist and choir-master of the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore. He was also well-known as a composer.

In 1901, Archer Gibson was appointed as choir-master and organist of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and served in this post for eight years. He was a fellow of the AGO exam, and was chairman of the Guild's first committee on console standardization.

In his time Archer Gibson ranked as one of the leading organists in the USA. During the first decades of the 20th century, when it was fashionable for millionaires to have organs in their homes, Gibson's unique talent made him indispensable to the VERY RICH, and he was paid by the hour, earning in the tens of thousands! ;-)

This piece is an interesting one, and sounds well on the Schulze. It's "eastern" to be sure, but you will need to decide to what degree you "feel the Orient" in this one!

All-in-all, I'd say this is a pretty "groovy piece," and I dedicate this to BaroqueDMX, who is a pretty groovy guy!

I hope you like it, Jim! :-)

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Arthur Bird, & two of Archer Gibson.