Lento / Allegretto (Twelve Miniatures, No. 8)

Henry Marcellus Higgs (1854-1929) was the son of Marcellus Higgs (1827-1897) and Clara Tomlin. His father, also an organist, published no organ music.

H. M. Higgs worked with several music publishers and published a fairly large output of organ music. I have no indication of any places at which he served as organist, but he clearly knew how to write for the instrument.

Unfortunately, I have little biographical information about Henry Higgs, but THANKS to our member "diapason," we now know that he was organist of Christ Church, Sutton, and St. Paul's Church, Great Portland Street, London. THANK YOU DIAPASON!

"Twelve Miniatures" dates from 1913 and was published by Novello & Co. Ltd. The set was part of the publisher's "Original Compositions for the Organ (New Series)," where it appears as No. 27. It is dedicated: "To A. Healey Foster, Esq." Each piece is different in style and format, and some could be called "studies" as they deal with a particular technical aspect of organ playing.

The eighth piece, "Lento/ Allegretto" is in the key of A-flat major, and written in 4/4 time. It begins with a brief "horn call" introduction, before passing directly into the light and airy main body of the piece, which is uplifting as gentle sunlight.

Again, this work is more of the "salon style," but could certainly be used liturgically as well.

I have no photos of Henry Marcellus Higgs to share, but the score is attached below, as well as two photos of Christ Church, Sutton, where Higgs served as organist.