Round O

Probably one of the most famous pieces of music ever. And at the same time one of the easiest pieces I learned to play 45 years ago. Now I've found the sheet music again and tried it straight away - it sounds quite passable on the Lochtum organ, I think.
Why is the piece so well known? The very striking theme was taken up by Benjamin Britten and used in the orchestral piece "A young person's guide to the orchestra".
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a piece of music subtitled "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell", written by Benjamin Britten in 1945. Britten was originally commissioned to write a piece for the educational film The Instruments of the Orchestra, which was to be produced under the direction of Muir Mathieson with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Sargent. "The work," he said, "is tenderly dedicated to the children of John and Jean Maud: Humphrey, Pamela, Caroline and Virginia, for their edification and entertainment".
The work is one of the composer's best-known pieces and is - along with Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf - one of the three most frequently used pieces in musical education.

But now enjoy my recording!