Duncan Honeybourne - plays the 1873 Bevington organ at Holy Trinity Parish Church, Bincombe, Dorset (2023) [24/44]

Bincombe is “a tiny place, comprising a few cottages, fields, farms and an ancient church nestled against a verdant hillside in sight of the sea. The lush meadows provide an inviting backdrop whilst, on the sightline, the English channel sparkles in the summer sunshine and shimmers mysteriously at night.” (Duncan Honeybourne). Part of the church dates from the twelfth century, with most of the remainder having been constructed in the fifteenth. The single manual organ was built by the London firm of Bevington and Sons in 1873 and supplied at a cost of £105 to the neighbouring parish of Broadwey. It was moved to Bincombe in 1903. (Bincombe is famous for its “bumps”, a cluster of round barrows which are visible from the Weymouth Relief Road.)

I was lucky enough to have a little preview of this album when Duncan gave a concert on the organ at All Saints’ church, Wyke Regis, in September. This album includes works by those masters of organ writing, Buxtehude and J S Bach, together with works by John Bull, William Byrd and Maurice Durufflé, as well as a nod to Wesssex composers, with works by Exeter-born Kate Boundy and Kate Loder of Bath. There is also a Dorset connection with Greville Cooke’s tranquil Threnody, recorded here for the first time. Cooke, a pianist, composer, poet, priest and professor at the Royal Academy, lived in north Dorset in his last years, although this piece was written during his time as Rector of Buxted, East Sussex. The album closes with John Joubert’s Short Preludes on English Hymn Tunes, composed for the new chamber organ at Peterborough Cathedral in 1990.

An enjoyable and highly varied disc which reveals the myriad colours, moods and warmth of the Bincombe organ. As a Dorset resident myself, I am particularly taken with the album’s connection to the local area near to where I live.

Tracklist:
01. John Bull: Galiard (From Parthenia)
02. William Byrd: Fanstasy (From the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book)
03. Dietrich Buxtehude: Fugue in C
04. J.S. Bach: Pastorella - Movement 1
05. J.S. Bach: Pastorella - Movement 2
06. J.S. Bach: Pastorella - Movement 3
07. J.S. Bach: Pastorella - Movement 4
08. Kate Boundy: Andante Grazioso
09. John Stanley: Voluntary in G minor - Movement 1
10. John Stanley: Voluntary in G minor - Movement 2
11. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 1
12. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 2
13. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 3
14. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 4
15. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 5
16. Kate Loder: Voluntaries - 6
17. Maurice Duruflé: Chante Donné: Hommage a Jean Gallon
18. S.S. Wesley (arr. R. Francis): Choral Song
19. Greville Cooke: Threnody
20. John Joubert: Short Prelude on Picardy, op. 125 no. 1


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