Edwardia

Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball CBE (18 June 1896 – 18 January 1987) was an organist and composer who, though originally from Australia, spent most of his life in Britain.

He studied organ and piano at the Royal College of Music in London, which he entered at the unusually young age of 14.
After graduating from the RCM, he was asked to deputise as organist at London's Temple Church by its then organist, Sir Henry Walford Davies. In 1923, he succeeded Walford Davies as organist and director of the Temple Church choir, a post he held for nearly 60 years.

Thalben-Ball composed several anthems and organ works, of which the best known is his meditative "Elegy."

In 1935 he was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music. From that time until his knighthood, he was generally known by his colleagues (as Walford Davies had been known before him) simply as "Doctor".

A regular radio broadcaster, and in 1949 was appointed Birmingham City Organist and Birmingham University Organist, a post he held for three decades. During this tenure, he gave over 1,000 weekly recitals.

In 1948, he was elected President of the Royal College of Organists, and for many years taught at the Royal College of Music.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967 and knighted in 1982. The latter honor was conferred shortly after his retirement from Temple Church.

A photo of "Doctor" is attached.

The work "Edwardia" is part of "The Hovingham Sketches," which were published by Banks Music Publications in 1982, the set comprises a group of works by well-known British organists, and many of the works have a rather "nostalgic" feel about them.