Mayfair Organ Concerts
St George’s, Hanover Square
11 March 2025
St George’s, Hanover Square 300^th Anniversary
The 1725 audition for the first organist

Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752) Lesson in D (Two Aires)
William Croft (1678-1727) Voluntary IX in d; Voluntary X in D;
Handel (1685-1759) Fugue in B flat; Fugue in a (HWV607/609)
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) Duo in F
Thomas Roseingrave (1690-1766) Voluntary & Fugue in f; Fugue in d.

This recital celebrates the 300th anniversary of St George’s, Hanover Square. The church was consecrated on 23 March 1725. It was designed by the architect John James, the son of the head of the Holy Ghost School in Basingstoke where a plaque in his honour has been unveiled. He was architect for two other London churches with an organ interest, St Mary’s Rotherhithe and St Lawrence Whitchurch. The 1725 Hanover Square organ was built by Gerard Smith, nephew and successor of the famous ‘Father’ Smith. Its case remains as the central part of the current organ. A panel of Pepusch, Croft, Handel and Geminiani choose Thomas Roseingrave as organist, noting that he was best able to improvise a fugue on the given subject. This recital includes music by the four assessors and concludes with fugues by Roseingrave.

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