Simon Lawford (Notre Dame de France, London)
Gordon Jacob: Festal Flourish
Joseph Jongen: Menuet-Scherzo
Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 – Finale (arr. Lawford)
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns: Trois Rhapsodies – 4.5, 5, 8
Marcel Dupré: Final
Simon Lawford makes a welcome return to the Binns Organ for the opening recital of our 2026 season. Gordon Jacob is a composer whose best-known piece is the grand fanfare which precedes the National Anthem on state occasions. Here he shows how the organ can aspire to similar ceremonial grandeur. This is followed by Jongen’s Menuet-Scherzo. Always tuneful, here Jongen is slightly wistful: the piece was written during his exile in England during the first world war. When Adrian Partington made the first record on the rebuilt Binns Organ in 1993 he included a transcription of the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony. In this recital we are to hear the soloist’s own transcription of the final, deeply moving movement of this symphony. Saint-Saëns composed in a variety of styles, always tuneful and always carefully crafted, as these Trois Rhapsodies demonstrate. To close, a rousing Final from Marcel Dupré, renowned composer and international virtuoso who once played in Nottingham, at Park Hill church (now Greek Orthodox) up the road from the Albert Hall.
The concert runs from 1.10pm to 1.55pm.
Admission £5 at the door, or book online.
Feel free to bring your own lunch.
Simon Lawford received his early musical training as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, and was organ scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, under Dr Bernard Rose. He was Assistant Organist at Peterborough Cathedral and subsequently Christ Church, Oxford.
Following a period as organist for the choir of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, he was appointed Director of Music at Hampstead Parish Church. From 1994 to 2007 he held the position of Organist and Director of Music at St George’s Cathedral, Perth, during which time this choir acquired an international reputation. He also founded St George’s Baroque Consort, specialising in the authentic performance of early music including the first period instrument performances in Australia of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St John Passion. He has twice performed the complete ‘48’ Preludes and Fugues of J. S. Bach and appeared as soloist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
In 2010 he returned to England to take up the temporary post of Assistant Organist at Chichester Cathedral, followed by similar roles at Canterbury Cathedral, Magdalen College, Christ Church, Oxford and Peterborough Cathedrals. In 2022 he was appointed organiste titulaire of the Église Notre-Dame de France in Leicester Square, London.
In 2008 he fulfilled a lifelong ambition by performing briefly with the legendary Dutch prog rock band ‘Focus’ in St David’s Hall, Cardiff.