Bur 7 Variations on an original Theme for piano and organ

Editor's Note

While in the process of writing a series of Folk-Song Settings for two piano duet (see Bur 5 and Bur 6 of the Bodnant Imprint) Benjamin Burrows conceived this work for the unusual combination of piano and organ. Burrows was a virtuoso on both instruments, and it was a happy circumstance that added such a charming work to a very poorly represented repertoire. The work was ‘inscribed to Elsie Everett’, a Leicester pianist and member of the composer’s choir at Victoria Road Church. The first performance was given in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds by Percy Hallam, a close friend of Burrows and the director of music at the cathedral (piano), and the composer (organ). The first Leicester performance was given by the composer at the organ with its dedicatee at the piano in Victoria Road Church in Leicester in 1949. Later that year it was again performed in Leicester Cathedral by the same players in a programme which included Burrows’ Five Psalms for choir and organ (Bur 9 of the Bodnant Imprint). The conductor on this occasion was his friend and colleague at Leicester University, George Gray, the director of music at the cathedral. The work has received many performances in the UK and one in the USA.