Elegy

Do you enjoy jigsaw puzzles?

I never did, and was never any good at them... :-(

MANY of these little "miniatures" that I've been doing are sort of like those puzzles, and THIS one certainly is!

Charles Vincent (19th September 1852 - 28th February 1934), Mus.B. (Oxon, 1878), Mus.D. (Oxon, 1885), was born at Houghtonle Spring, Durham, and, beginning in 1864, was a chorister at the Cathedral under Dr. Philip Armes.

He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory under Dr Karl Reinecke, and held a number of church appointments: 1875-76. Organist of Monkwearmouth Parish Church, 1864-68; St. Mark’s, Sunderland; Tavistock Parish Church, 1877-83; Kelly College, Tavistock, 1877-83; and Christ Church, Hampstead, 1883-91.

He was editor of the “Organist and Choirmaster”; founded the Vincent Music Publishing Co.; taught harmony at Trinity College London. Composed cantatas, organ pieces, songs, &c. Son of C. J. Vincent; brother of George F. Vincent and H. S. Vincent. He served as examiner for Trinity College, London, travelling to South Africa and Australia.

He died in Monte Carlo in 1934.

Tomorrow is the 168th anniversary of Charles Vincent's birth, so, I will dedicate this one to him.

"Elegy" is dedicated: "In Memoriam J. F. V." but I have no idea who that would have been.

I found the piece to seem very strange at first. The writing is unusual, as are the textures that it produces. The registrations given are important to the outcome, and I've followed those pretty closely.

The piece is "elegiac," but not morbid. To make these "oddities" work you'll need to be creative, and allow yourself to get inside of the music.

After the first play through, I thought I'd just toss this one aside, but I tried it again, and I came to really like it over the next few hours.

The end result is effective on Hereford, although you'll need to "figure out" how to make it work. :-)

The score, courtesy of Dr. John Henderson is attached, as well as two photos of Charles Vincent.