| Description: | William Charles Mary Filby (1836-1913) was an organist in Hammersmith, Bromley, and then organist of St. Paul's Church, Greenwich. He was a recitalist at the 1862 exhibition.
As a composer, he wrote many piano pieces and songs, as well as a number of organ works.
"Calm in Sorrow" was published by the The Vincent Music Co. Ltd. in 1910 as "No. 193" in the "The Organ Loft Series."
Filby is very specific about his registrations, and I've followed those quite closely. MANY of the pieces have "obvious" (more or less) errors, and you have to decide how many of these you want to "correct" or let stand.
Most of these mistakes in the details, like phrasing and especially, in the omission or inclusion of ties. There are a number of these in this work, and the more you try to be exact in getting all the details right, the more confusing it all becomes!
"Calm in Sorrow" seems a very odd choice ot title, as the piece is a fairly quick "Allegretto," and while it is in a G minor, it's not particularly "sorrowful" other than in a type of "mannered grief," such as in a late 18th century or more likely mid 19th century funeral march. Since i decided that the idea of the march was central to the music, that's the way I played it being not quite "metronomic," but striving to be quite strict, hopefully in a slightly "relaxed" manner.
The score is attached below, as well as several of St. Paul's Church, Deptford, including one of the organ before and after the restoration, made necessary by a fire in the early 2000's.
More rare, odd, and forgotten gems coming soon. :-) |
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