Chant sans paroles, No. 2

Henry Hackett (1872-1940) was an organist in Bearwood, Kenilworth, Bideford, Burton-on-Trent and West Bromwich, and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. Hackett was a regular contributor to the journal, "The Organ Loft," where this piece appears as No. 169. It was published by the Vincent Music Co. Ltd. in 1909.

The work is dedicated: "To Roland Diggle, Esq.: Mus. Bac.: Kansas, U.S.A." Diggle was an English-born organist and composer who moved to the USA in 1904, serving for 40 years as Organist and Choirmaster of St. John's Church, Los Angeles, California. He was an active recitalist, and published over 500 compositions and arrangements.

"Chant sans paroles" (Song without words) is aptly titled. It begins with a very brief introduction before the main theme is introduced, played in the tenor upon the Swell oboe. The melody section features a canon between the Swell 8' & 4' stops against the Solo clarinet. The first section returns before a brief, attractive and somewhat surprising coda "hurrys along" suddenly, and the piece ends "forte", relatively speaking of course.

There is a sort of hypnotic quality about all this. The framing sections are in D major, and the central section is in a darker D minor.

I found this to be surprisingly hard to "get right." In truth, I was so surprised when I did it, I almost stopped, as I hadn't thought I'd get it, and wasn't "prepared" to keep going!

I kept thinking, "Relax and find WHERE you are on the score, or you're going to lose it!"

Fortunately, I got through it, and I think you'll like the outcome.

The three pieces I've uploaded today make for the complete volume of the "The Organ Loft", Book LVI, June 1909.

The score is attached below, as well as several photos of Henry Hackett, courtesy of our member, "Dabchurch," for which we say, THANK YOU, David!