Richards Fowkes

Two German Anniversaries: 1624 & 1674

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Mayfair Organ Concerts
St George’s, Hanover Square
Tuesday 2 July 2024, 1.10pm

Two German Anniversaries: 1624 & 1674
Samuel Scheidt and Matthais Weckmann
Andrew Benson-Wilson


This concert celebrates the 400th and 350th anniversaries of two of the most important German composers of the early 17th century: the publication in 1624 of Samuel Scheidt’s seminal three-volume Tabulatura nova and the death in 1674 of Matthias Weckmann.

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654)
Tabulatura nova, 1624
Echo ad manuale duplex forte et lene
Fantasia super Io son ferito lasso
Modus pleno Organo pedaliter: Benedicamus à 6 Voc

Matthias Weckmann (c1616-1674)
Canzon in G
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein
Praeludium A.5 Vocem

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Organ Recital: “Upon thes nots”

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

For those who came to this recital, despite the travel problems, the encore that I played was Thomas Tomkins: “Sad Paven for these distracted times”
It seemed appropriate

“Upon thes nots“
Two 450th anniversaries – Thomas Tomkins & Michael Praetorius
Andrew Benson-Wilson, organ
St George’s, Hanover Square, London W1S 1FX
1 March 2022, 1:10

This recital contrasts the contrasting music of two composers born 600 miles apart, 450 years ago. It also reflects the way in which the two composers treat melodic lines, whether in the form of a powerful Lutheran hymn or the seven-note plainchant-based phrase upon which Tomkins based his monumental Offertory, noting in the opening bar that the piece was based “upon thes nots“.

Thomas Tomkins 1572–1656
“For Mr Arc[hdeacon] ThornBurgh”
“Mr Thomas Tomkins offertorye” [upon thes nots] (1637)
Michael Praetorius 1571-1621
O lux beata Trinitas (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
Chorale Fantasia: Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott (Musæ Sioniæ VII, 1609)

Thomas Tomkins was organist of Worcester Cathedral until its closure during the Civil War as well as the Chapel Royal in London. Michael Praetorius was organist and Kapellmeister in the courts of the Duke of Wolfenbüttel and the Elector of Saxony in Dresden.  

The concert is given on the Richards, Fowkes & Co organ in Handel’s church of St George’s Hanover Square as part of the Mayfair Organ Concerts series. Admission is free, with a retiring collection.

The programme notes can be found here.

Organ music by Tunder (d1667)

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Organ music by Franz Tunder (1614-1667)
St George Hanover Square (Mayfair Organ Concerts)
Tuesday 9 May 2017, 1:10
Andrew Benson-Wilson

SGHS main organ

Franz Tunder was one of the most influential organists and composers of the early to mid 17th century in North Germany. Along with a group of Hamburg organist composers, including Jacob Praetorius, Scheidemann, and Weckmann, he created the musical development that culminated in Dietrich Buxtehude, Tunder’s son-in-law, and successor at the Lübeck Marienkirche. He was key to the development of the extended Chorale Fantasia and the dramatic Stylus Phantasticus.

In 1646 Tunder founded the famous Abendmusiken series of concerts in the Marienkirche. These were funded by, and performed to, Lübeck businessmen, and were continued by Buxtehude and then well into the 18th century. In Tunder’s day, the Abendmusik concerts were usually organ recitals. In this programme, you will experience some of the organ music that could have been heard during these concerts, which were very much in the tradition of today’s London lunchtime concerts.

The 2012 Richards, Fowkes & Co organ in St George’s, Hanover Square (Handel’s church) is eminently suitable for music of this period.

Praeludium in g
In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr
Jesus Christus wahr’ Gottes Sohn
Auf meinem Lieben Gott (manualiter)
Praeludium in g
Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott

Admission is free, with a retiring collection.

Parthenia Nova

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Parthenia Nova
Richards, Fowkes & Co Opus 18 organ: St George’s Hanover Square
Simon Thomas Jacobs
Fugue State Records FSRCD009. 77’40

Parthenia Nova

The 2012 opening of the new organ in St George’s Hanover Square was an important event in the London organ world. The church itself has a strong musical identity, not least by being Handel’s own parish church when he lived a couple of streets away. It was the first organ in London by any American organ builder, in this case Richards, Fowkes & Co. Despite some concessions to present day Church of England use, it is at heart a relatively uncompromising take on the 16th and 17th century organs on North Europe, the specialism of the organ builders. It is housed in a case spread across the west end of the church gallery. The central portion of the case is an historically important 18th century one, although nothing remains of the organ that it originally contained. Continue reading →

HANDEL ORGAN RECITAL. St George’s, Hanover Sq. 7 April 1:10.

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The London Handel Festival and Mayfair Organ Concerts present a lunchtime organ recital by

Andrew Benson-Wilson

Handel Overtures and Organ Concertos, arranged for solo organ by Handel, Babell and Walsh c 1755. Played on the ‘Handel House’ chamber organ and the 2012 Richards Fowkes & Co organ in Handel’s own church of St George, Hanover Square in London’s Mayfair. SGHS Handel organ_crop 2