A Percy Whitlock Centenary Tribute

One thing he never lacked was grace and charm. This week, we explore the work of a prodigiously talented yet short-lived minor English master. Whether writing for catherdral or parish use, or for his later involvement as a municipal organist, Percy Whitlock’s gentle and engaging personality made many friends for him. His compositions were conservative for his time but each possess a rich emotion and sly wit. After one hundred years, we remember him still, with A Percy Whitlock Centenary Tribute.

Listen to the program

Program Broadcast dates:

May 26, 2003

Featured Organs:

1984 Harrison at Westminster Abbey
1929 Skinner at Woolsey Hall
1928 Skinner at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Music played in the program

PERCY WHITLOCK: Fanfare, from Four Extemporisations (1933) -Christopher Herrick (1984 Harrison/Westminster Abbey, London, England, UK) Hyperion CD-66121

WHITLOCK: March for the ‘Phoebe’ -Gordon Stewart (1881 Willis/Town Hall, Huddersfield, England, UK) OxRecs Digital CD-72

WHITLOCK: Plymouth Suite (1937) (Chanty, Toccata) –Jennifer Bate (1957 Rushworth & Dreaper/Saint Andrew’s Church, Plymouth, England, UK) ASV CD-6233

WHITLOCK: Psalm 137, By the waters of Babylon –Wells Cathedral Choir, Anthony Crossland, conductor; Christopher Brayne (1857 Willis-1974 Harrison/Wells Cathedral, England, UK) Priory CD-337

WHITLOCK: Folk Tune, from Five Short Pieces (1929) –James Parsons (1985 Frobenius/Oundle School Chapel, England, UK) Intersound CD2858

WHITLOCK: First Movement, from Sonata in c (1936) –Nigel Potts (1929 Skinner/Woolsey Hall, Yale University, New Haven, CT) Integrity CD-112601

WHITLOCK: Canzona and Scherzetto (2nd and 3rd movements), from Sonata in c (1936) –Robert Gower (1947 Hill, Norman & Beard/Selby Abbey, England, UK) Abacus CD-505 (nla)

WHITLOCK: Choral (4th movement), from Sonata in c (1936) -Wolfgang Rübsam (1928 Skinner/Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL) IFO CD-7206

Whitlock’s Sonata is dedicated to Dorothy Leigh Sayers and Harriet Vane, the heroine of the former’s Lord Peter Wimsey thrillers.