Venite in Bethlehem

William Thomas Best (13 August 1826 — 10 May 1897) studied at Carlisle Cathedral under John Norman and Abraham Young. Organist of the Pembroke Road Chapel, Liverpool, 1840-55; the Church for the Blind, Liverpool, 1847; the Royal Panopticon, Leicester Square, London, 1853-54; Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, 1854; St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, 1855; St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, 1855-94; Wallasey Parish Church, Birkenhead, 1860-63; Holy Trinity, Liverpool, 1863; West Derby Parish Church, 1879. He was engaged in 1871 to give recitals at the Royal Albert Hall (stayed for only a short time), and was the solo Organist at the Handel festival at the Crystal Palace. Opened the organ in Sydney Town Hall, 1890. He was one of the greatest English Organists of his time, and received a Civil List pension of £100 per annum. Best composed church services, anthems, as well as many organ transcriptions and solo pieces.

Best was certainly the most famous British organist of the time, and was proclaimed by none other than Franz Liszt to be THE greatest virtuoso on ANY instrument!

This work is found in "A Romantic Christmas", edited by Barbara Owen, and published by Belwin Mills in 1995.

I liked this piece, not only for it's devout style, but also for the "old-fashioned impression" that it makes. I've tried to portray both the devout and the "old-fashioned" in the way that I played it.

Attached below are two photos of W. T. Best.

For Christmas Day: "Hark! the Herald-Angels sing! - a set of Variations on Mendelssohn's well-known Christmas Hymntune" by Charles Frost. This is a LONG-FORGOTTEN gem, which I hope you will enjoy!

I wish everyone all the blessings of the season.

Peace to All!