Greg Lewin Music: New Titles

John Marsh: Eighteen Voluntaries for the Organ (London 1791)

John Marsh (1752-1828) was a prolific amateur composer. A solicitor by profession, much of his considerable energy was devoted to music (though he also published two books on astronomy). As a musician he was largely self-taught. He was a violinist in the subscription concert orchestras in Salisbury and later directed the subscription concerts in Canterbury and Chichester.

The Eighteen Voluntaries may be seen as part of Marsh's campaign for improving the then low quality of church and cathedral music. Besides the eighteen voluntaries (which are useful and not too difficult), he includes a long introduction aimed at young organists in which he describes the use of the various stops of the organ, how to combine stops, what combinations are appropriate to different types of service music etc. This introduction (included in the present edition) also acts as a useful guide to the modern organist who wishes to understand the practices of the late eighteenth century.
Modern edition by Greg Lewin. Spiral Bound.

John Alcock (Jun): Eight Easy Voluntaries for the Organ (London 1775)

John Alcock jun (1740-1791) was a chorister under his father at Lichfield Cathedral. He took his BMus degree at Oxford in 1766. He was Organist and Master of the Song School at Newark from 1758-1768 and organist of St Matthew's church, Walsall from 1773.
Modern edition by Greg Lewin. Spiral Bound.

John Alcock: Ten Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord (London 1774)

John Alcock (1715-1806) was a contemporary of Boyce in the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir. He was later apprenticed to the organist John Stanley. He worked in several provincial cities before becoming organist at Lichfield Cathedral in 1750. He seems to have left this post c.1765 after disagreements with the choir and with the cathedral authorities. He then became organist at the parish churches of both Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth - posts which he held simultaneously for twenty years.
Modern edition by Greg Lewin. Spiral Bound.

Henry Heron: Ten Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord (London c.1765)

Little is known of Henry Heron beyond the details given in the title page of these voluntaries. He was organist of St Magnus, London Bridge by 1745 and seems to have stayed there until the appointment of his successor in 1795. The voluntaries were first published in 1760 in an edition 'published for the Author'. They were later reissued in the edition used here in about 1765. His other published works hint at further musical activities; they include volumes of songs for Marylebone and Vauxhall pleasure gardens and church music for the 'Orphans of the Asylum' and the 'Charity Schools in London and Westminster'.
Modern edition by Greg Lewin. Spiral Bound.