CRITICAL REVIEW ESSAY

Fanfare: Organ Music of Percy Whitlock: Harvey Stansfield plays the Compton Organ of Southampton Guildhall.

Percy Whitlock is rightly acknowledged as a major 20th century British composer of music for the organ. This CD is being released to celebrate the 120th anniversary of his death using an instrument that he knew well, having played at the opening (along with George Thalben-Ball) in January 1937. The pieces are performed on the Compton organ of the Southampton Guildhall, where Whitlock played a programme showcasing the two consoles (church and theatre style) including the Bach G minor on the ‘Grand’ console and his Shanty Selection on the ‘Variety’ console. Later that year, Whitlock gave a recital consisting of the Overture to Otho (Ottone) by Handel, Delibes’s Suite Le roi s’amuse and his own Fidelis and Fanfare on the same instrument. This last piece begins the CD, ‘bringing it back to where the composer played it himself.’