Introduction and Fugue

Robert Lucas Pearsall (14 March 1795 – 5 August 1856) was an English composer mainly of vocal music, including an elaborate setting of "In dulci jubilo" and the richly harmonic part song "Lay a garland" of 1840, both still often performed today.

He was born at Clifton in Bristol on 14 March 1795 into a wealthy, originally Quaker family, and was privately educated.

Pearsall married Harriet Eliza Hobday in 1817. She was the daughter of a moderately successful portrait painter, William Armfield Hobday (1771–1831). In their early years of marriage, Pearsall practised as a barrister in Bristol, but in 1825 he took his family to live abroad: first to Mainz, then to Karlsruhe. In 1842, evidently after a long period of strain in their relationship, husband and wife separated. He used the money from the sale of the house at Willsbridge to buy Wartensee Castle, a ruined medieval keep near Rorschach in Switzerland. After purchasing the castle, he spent several years restoring it and building additions. He remained there until his death on 5 August 1856, and was buried in the vault of the castle chapel. In 1957, his remains were removed and reinterred in the nearby Roman Catholic church at Wilen-Wartegg.

Pearsall's move abroad brought opportunities to develop his interests as a composer. The success of his earliest works encouraged him to write others. His setting of the medieval German Christmas carol "In dulci jubilo" (in his original version for eight solo and five chorus parts), is one of his most popular works and still performed frequently at Christmas, particularly at King's College, Cambridge.

"Introduction and Fugue" is a solid and effective piece that sounds well on a large English organ. This edition comes from E. H. Lemare's "Recital Series of Original Compositions" published by Novello in 1902.

I received this from my good friend "Erzahler," and this performance is dedicated to him. Thanks, Andrew!

The score & portraits of Pearsall are attached below.