The Diamond Jubilee March

Gordon Lawson was born in Lenzie, near Glasgow in December 1931 and was educated in Glasgow and later in N. Wales where, during World War 11 his father was working for a government ministry. In 1950, he went up to St. Johns College, Cambridge and gained his MA and B.Mus. In 1954 he joined the R.A. for national service and in 1956, was appointed to Ellesmere College, moving to Malvern in 1962 to become assistant Director of Music and to Brighton in 1966 as Director of Music.

He retired from teaching in 1987 to devote more time to composition, to travel abroad as an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music, to care for an elderly relative and to spend more time in Spain where he has had a property since 1973 and which is now his permanent home. He has more than 150 compositions to his name, many of which are published.

He is the founder and conductor of the Montgo Chorale, and plays the organ in one of the Costa Blanca Anglican Chapliancy churches.

Over the past few months, I've been working with Gordon a project to record some of his organ music. I uploaded his "3 Passiontide Preludes" a few weeks ago, and I'm very excited to share this one with you!

"The Diamond Jubilee March" was composed in Obra in 2006, and then revised in 2012. It is a stirring and exciting work composed to mark the Diamond Jubilee (60 years) of Queen Elizabeth, which occurred in 2012. In it, you will hear overtones of Walton and Elgar, but the talent and heart is ALL Gordon Lawson!

I fell that this recording is "close," but still a WIP. However, Gordon's enthusiastic response gave me the impetus to share this with you, so here is the result.

I've attached a photo of Gordon, as well as the title page of the manuscript. Gordon is considering have this (and an other march) published, so I can not share the score, but please express your approval, as I will be sharing this link with him.

It's my privilege to work with a composer like Gordon, and MORE will follow ASAP!