Vesper Song

John Arthur Meale (1880-1932) was born in Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, England, Dec. 18th, 1880, and died in Hendon, Dec. 9th, 1932.

Philip Scowcroft writes:

John Arthur Meale, born in Slaithwaite in 1880, was Musical Director at the Central Hall, Westminster from its opening in 1912 until his death in 1932, giving some six hundred Wednesday recitals and many Saturday Popular Concerts. A noted exponent of the "orchestral" school or organ playing, a FRCO and a recitalist much in demand all over the country (he recorded for HMV) he came to Doncaster on several occasions after the First World War and played among other things his own "tone pictures" The Mighty Andes, Fountain Melody, In Peril on the Sea, the Introduction, Variations and Fugue on The Vicar of Bray, the pedal study "The Magic Harp, At Sunrise, Impressions sur la Belgique, A Night at Sea and March Patrol. Other organ solos by him included Sunny, The Storm, composed as a feature for a church bazaar at Selby, Twilight, Cante Religioso and A Summer Idyll (1917); his output included also anthems and many songs, of which Coming to You was perhaps the most popular. He prepared the specification for the organ in Hull City Hall and for many others. He was another in the mould of Lemare and Hollins.

Musical notes are given in the First Comment.

The score, which is another rare one, is courtesy of Dr. John Henderson, and is attached below. Also below is a photo of Arthur Meale and one of the Methodist Central Hall in London.