The Garland (Der Blumenkranz)

George Calkin (10th August 1829 - 13th July 1911) was the youngest of 8 children born to James and Victoire.

He was a well-known organist, cellist, choral conductor and prolific composer for the organ. His works include 16 books of organ voluntaries.

Being always on the lookout for "summer specials," I downloaded this collection yesterday. I'd done one of Calkin's works before, the vigorous "Postlude in A Minor."
http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/31848

Calkin obviously admired the works of Mendelssohn, as he has at least four books of transcriptions of his works. This one comes from Book One, published by Novello.

I had no idea what "The Garland" was about, so, I looked it up. It's a poem , "An Celias Baum in stiller Nacht by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-1876), and this is the English "version" by Thomas Moore (1779-1852).

By Celia's arbour all the night
Hang, humid wreath, the lover's vow;
And haply, at the morning light,
My love shall twine thee round her brow.

Then, if upon her bosom bright
Some drops of dew shall fall from thee,
Tell her, they are not drops of night,
But tears of sorrow shed by me!

I found this to be very moving, and I've tried to "keep it simple," but without making it plodding. So, I listened to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to get some inspiration, and this is the result.

Notice also, that the Peterborough Hill has a fine "upgrade," cleaning up the issues with the releases, and capturing the tone even more clearly!

The score is attached below, as well as a painting of Mendelssohn and a photo of George Calkin, as well as some photos of St. Mark's Church, Albert Street, Regent Park, where Calkin served as organist.