Intermezzo

Hadyn Keeton (1847–1921) was born on 26 October 1847 in Mosborough. He was a chorister at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

He served as organist of Datchet Parish Church from 1867 to 1870, and of
Peterborough Cathedral from 1870 to 1921. He would have overseen the installation of the big Hill organ.

It is this organ (more or less) that you are hearing in Volume One of the Peterborough Cathedral sample set.

Keeton served with distinction, and was regarded as a fine teacher. Some of his more famous pupils include Alfred Whitehead, Malcolm Sargent, and Thomas Armstrong.

He is buried in Peterborough Cathedral, and there is an impressive memorial to him there.

He did not compose a lot of music, and to my knowledge, this is one of the very few published organ works.

"Intermezzo" was composed for the Peterborough Hill and was published in London by Collard Moutrie in 1907.

It is a fine work, with the first and last section featuring the haunting Orchestral Oboe 8' of the Solo, to which the Double Clarinet 16' and the the Flauto Traverso 4' are added.

The G minor of the framing sections are broken by a delightfully "busy" middle section in G major. It is FULL of 32nd notes, and will cause you to utter a few "choice words," if you choose to work it out!

The hypnotic melody returns, and the piece melts away into darkness.

My SINCERE THANKS to John Henderson for the score, which is attached below.

Also attached are photos of Datchet Parish Church, of the memorial to Haydn Keeton in Peterborough Cathedral, and a photo of him in his doctoral robes.