Woodland Rest

Robert Oehme (1860-1931) was a German composer who wrote many pieces for voice and piano and for piano solo. He lived in Saxony and died in Kötzschenbroda (today a part of Radebeul near Dresden).

Waldesruh (Woodland Rest) is the third piece of a collection of piano pieces, "Im Sommer", 5 Characterstücke für Klavier op. 18, published by Schott's Söhne in 1913 (In Summer, 5 character pieces for piano). Waldesruh was also published as a single issue op. 18, No. 3 the same year.

THANK YOU, Michael! ("voxcoelistis")!

This lovely transcription can be found in "The Silver Organ Album" published by the Boston Music Company. It was originally copyrighted by Schott in 1913.

The arrangement was done by English organist and composer Reginald Goss-Custard was born on 29 March 1877 at St Leonards-on-Sea and was largely self-taught. His brother Harry Goss-Custard was organist at Liverpool Cathedral. He held a series of organist posts in London and gave fortnightly recitals at the Bishopsgate Institute. He died on 13 June 1956. His organ compositions include Chelsea Fayre, Elégie, Idyll, a March in F, a Fantasia in F and a Serenade in A. There are also many arrangements for organ, including Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and a series of overtures - Beethoven's Egmont, Bizet's Carmen, Hérold's Zampa, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Suppé's Poet and Peasant, the Adagio from Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor, and Weber's Der Freischütz.

The hardest part of the work is managing the registrations in a smooth, "orchestral" manner. The Peterborough Hill actually does a fine job with this sort of thing, since the pungent colors of the Solo stops such as the strings and the orchestral oboe add vibrancy and color to the sound.


The score is attached below, as well as several photos of the arranger, Reginald Goss-Custard.