Allegro pomposo (Twelve Miniatures, No. 7)

Henry Marcellus Higgs (1854-1929) was the son of Marcellus Higgs (1827-1897) and Clara Tomlin. His father, also an organist, published no organ music.

H. M. Higgs worked with several music publishers and published a fairly large output of organ music. I have no indication of any places at which he served as organist, but he clearly knew how to write for the instrument.

Unfortunately, this is all the biographical information that I have about Henry Higgs.

"Twelve Miniatures" dates from 1913 and was published by Novello & Co. Ltd. The set was part of the publisher's "Original Compositions for the Organ (New Series)," where it appears as No. 27. It is dedicated: "To A. Healey Foster, Esq." Each piece is different in style and format, and some could be called "studies" as they deal with a particular technical aspect of organ playing.

The seventh piece, "Allegro pomposo" is in the key of E-flat major, and written in 3/4 time. It is of the "Grand Chœur" sort of piece, light-hearted yet still grand.

It requires "heroic playing," has an active pedal part, and would make an excellent postlude.

The form is A-B-A with the framing sections being for essentially for varying degrees of full organ. The central section is softer and quicker, and has a somewhat unusual harmonic scheme.

I have no photos of Henry Marcellus Higgs to share, but the score is attached below.