"God rest ye merry, gentlemen" (Three Christmas Preludes, No. 3)

Thomas Frederick Handel Candlyn (1892–1964) was an English-born organist, composer and choirmaster who spent most of his professional career at two Episcopal Church congregations in New York.

He was born December 17, 1892 in Davenham, Cheshire, England, the son of Thomas John Candlyn, an organist, and received the Bachelor of Music degree from Durham University in 1911. In 1915 he was offered the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Church, Albany, and he emigrateThe fd to the United States. He was to remain at St. Paul’s for twenty-eight years. In 1918 he became a United States citizen.

In 1943 he succeeded T. Tertius Noble as organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York, where he remained until his retirement in 1954. He composed two hundred works, primarily anthems, cantatas, service settings and organ solos. Three of his anthems (“Christ, whose glory fills the skies,” “Thee We Adore,” and “King of Glory, King of Peace”) remain part of the standard repertoire of Episcopal church choirs in North America.

Three Christmas Preludes were published by Abingdon Press in 1965, the year after Candlyn's death. (Registration for Hammond organ is included, so you KNOW this is high-class music!)

Actually, these ARE high-class, quality works. They seem typical of Candlyn's style, as they are colorful, "busy" (even fussy), and hard to bring off. They require a lot of color and registrational changes, and are a combination of Anglican and American Episcopalian.

Here the famous tune is given a vigorous setting, passing through several tonal centers and decreasing a bit in volume, before a cadenza leads into the start of the final section.

In this final section, Candlyn cleverly uses the melody as the accompaniment, but twice as slowly over a long pedal point.

The score (for the three pieces) is attached below, as well as a photos of T. H. Candlyn and H. J. Gauntlett are attached below.

TOMORROW: "Christmas Suite" - Stanley E. Saxton.