Ralph Kinder (1876-1952) was born in Manchester, England. At the age of 5 his family moved to Bristol, Rhode Island, and became a chorister at Trinity Church, Bristol. He was a student of Hamilton C. Macdougall, and in 1890 became organist of Trinity Church. He returned to England in 1897, and was a student of Charles William Pearce, Edwin H. Lemare, and Dr. Edward Hart Turpin.
After his return to Rhode Island, he became organist and choirmaster of Grace Church in Providence, and later of Holy Trinity Church, Rittenhouse Square in Philadeplhia, both of which are prime positions. During his time in Philadelphia, he performed over 1,000 recitals.
In 1901 he returned to England to study with Edward d'Evry, and upon returning to America was married, and opened his "Kinder Organ School" in the fall of 1915. He became organist and choirmaster of St. Thomas Church, Whitemarsh, Pa. and in 1941, organist at Trinity Memorial Church in Philadelphia.
His compositions are quite numerous, colorful, and often, as in this case, border on the "theater organ style."
"Cantilène du Soir" was published in 1912 by J. Fischer & Bro. It is dedicated: "To Edward Harrsion Spielmann, Philadelphia." I have no information on the dedicatee.
This is another "Summertime Dream" special, bordering on the theater organ edge. If you like this style, I think you'll love this!
This work is obviously conceived of the large, American organ of the time, so, I was not able to do it exactly as Kinder indicates. However, the changes in registration made of the Salisbury Willis seem to actually "enhance it," and hope you will agree.
If you enjoyed this, you may want to listen to a similar piece by Kinder, "A Summer Morning".
https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/30602
The score is attached below, as well as a photo of Ralph Kinder, and some of Holy Trinity Church, Rittenhouse Square, where he served as organist.
More Kinder (probably) coming relatively soon. :-)
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