Prelude (Op 62, No 1)

Craig Sellar Lang (13 May 1891 – 24 Nov 1971) was born in New Zealand and was a student of Walter Parratt and Charles Villiers Stanford. He received his Doctorate of Music from The University of Durham. In 1929 he was appointed Director of Music at Christ's Hospital school in Horsham, West Sussex. His instructional works, aimed at students, were highly influential and generations of organists were brought up on these.

Published by Novello in 1962, the Opus 62 "Prelude, Pastorale and Fugue" is a set of three works which Lang states "are suitable for performance as a Suite, or they may be used separately as voluntaries. The Prelude should be played in strict rhythm, with suitable contrasts where a reed is indicated. If no reed is available, the footnote on page 3 suggests what might be done."

The first of these three works is perfectly formed, and I use the Solo Posaune, Contra Posaune, and Clarion (16,8,4) and resist the temptation to feature a tuba for the contrasting fanfares.

This year 2021 marks the 50th year of his passing. I hope to learn several of his lesser performed works and share them online - I do hope you will follow along on this adventure! (And perhaps some of my friends here will share too :)