St Lawrence Whitchurch

Organ recital: Byrd to Blow

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

The Friends of St Lawrence
“Byrd to Blow”
17th-century English organ music,
for the 30th anniversary of the Goetze & Gwynne ‘Handel’ organ

Andrew Benson-Wilson

St Lawrence, Whitchurch
Whitchurch Lane, Edgware HA8 6QS
Sunday 19 October, 2025. 3pm


30 years ago, Andrew Benson-Wilson gave the all-Handel opening recital on the new Goetze & Gwynne ‘Handel’ organ, a reconstruction of the 1716 Gerard Smith instrument using the original Grinling Gibbons case and surviving elements of the original organ. Handel used the original 1716 organ when he worked for the Duke of Chandos at Cannons in 1717/18.

Having given two subsequent recitals of music by Handel, Andrew now returns to explore English organ music from the century leading up to Handel’s time, ranging from Byrd to Blow, with music by William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons (d1625), Thomas Tomkins, John Lugge, Matthew Locke and John Blow. It will feature pieces for “double organ”, a genre that developed during the 17th-century. The recital will also honour the lives of the organ builders, Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynne. Click here to find out more about the organ.

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My London organ recitals: August to October 2025

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

My London organ recitals
August to October 2025

Tuesday 5 August, Grosvenor Chapel, 1:10.
For the anniversary of Arnolt Schlick (c1455-c1525), I will play all the pieces from his 1512 Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang, including the large-scale Da pacem and Salve Regina, the latter described as “one of the truly great masterpieces of organ art”. 


Monday 8 September, Christ Church, Spitalfields 7.30.
Under the title of “Mr. Stanley, I Presume!” this will be an exploration of English 18th-century life through the organ music of John Stanley (1712-1786) – “the best organist in Europe, maybe in the world”. It will include music reflecting country house saloon soirees; the hunting horns, shepherd songs and birdsong of the English countryside; the trumpets of military marches; and jovial London pleasure gardens. Played on the internationally renowned 1735 Richard Bridge organ.

Sunday 19 October, St Lawrence (Little Stanmore) Whitchurch HA8 6QS, 3pm.
Thirty years ago, I gave the opening recital on this Goetze & Gwynne organ, based on the surviving parts of the 1716 Gerard Smith organ that Handel played when he worked for the Duke of Chandos at Cannons. This anniversary recital of English 17th-century music will honour the lives of Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynne. The church is a short walk from Canons Park underground station. 

More details to follow in due course, including booking details for the Spitalfields and Whitchurch concerts.

Recital programme notes: The 1725 audition for the first organist of St George’s, Hanover Square

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Mayfair Organ Concerts
St George’s, Hanover Square
11 March 2025
St George’s, Hanover Square 300th 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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