…in my end is my beginning…

This solo violin work was written for Peter Sheppard Skaerved – a New Year palindrome based on letters in his name, which references the final line of ‘East Coker’ within the Four Quartets of T S Eliot. Having attended one of his recitals in the glorious city church of St Mary Aldermary, I was inspired to arrange the dramatic work for organ pedals, as part of an ongoing project on Robert’s organ works.

The second arrangement (for organ manuals) is of the ‘Lament of Holger Danske’, a legendary Danish hero who is said to sleep in Kronborg Castle, waiting for the time when Denmark is in peril. After the thunderous pedal arrangement, this one explores a more minimalist aspect of Robert’s resonant violin sonorities at the organ.