Melody for a Tenor (Twelve Melodious Pieces, Op. 26, No. 4)

Edward Townshend Driffield was born in Prescot, near Liverpool, on December 10, 1851, and died at Ormskirk on Nov. 15th, 1925.

He was organist of Christ Church, Claughton, Birkenhead, and a solicitor in Tranmere.

"Twelve Melodious Pieces" were published by E. Donajowski, London, and are inscribed to him. They are solid, well-written, conservative pieces. While they are not "ground breakers" in anyway, they do have variety and color, and show the organ in a way that simply put, sounds good!

The quality varies throughout, but all of them, at least as far as I've gone, are solid, and some are very effective. I'll plan to do the whole set of twelve, uploading them in groups of three.

"Melody for a Tenor" is the fourth work in the collection. In the key of B-flat major, it is marked to be played "Andante."

This is sort of a take off on a Mendelssohnian "song without words" type of thing. In effect, it is an "aria" for a solo tenor voice, the organ taking the double role of soloist and accompanist.

My first reaction was negative, but I liked it more each time as I went through it for the recording. It's highly chromatic (in the accompaniment), but the melody is straight-forward and pleasing enough.

The solo voice called for is a 16' reed (or an 8' played an octave lower). In this case, I used the 16' Bassoon of the Choir as the soloist. It's smooth and mellow, and is an attractive solo voice, although it's by no means a "loud" stop. Oh that the same could be said of some tenors I've known. ;-)

The score, courtesy of Dr. John Henderson, is attached below.

Also attached is a photo of Christ Church, Claughton, Birkenhead, where Driffield was organist. I have no photos of him, but I did find one of his grave, which is in St. Luke's Churchyard, Formby, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside.

Since I already did the sixth of these, "Cantilène, Op. 26, No. 6," I won't repeat it, but you can find it here:

https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/38738