George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987) - Elegy

George Thalben-Ball composed several anthems and organ works, the most popular of which is his meditative Elegy for organ. The piece began its life during World War II at the close of a live BBC broadcast. A religious service that Thalben-Ball was playing for ended a few minutes early, leaving a gap to be filled, in which Thalben-Ball improvised a short piece. Afterwards, many of those listening to the broadcast telephoned the BBC to find out what the composition was. This prompted Thalben-Ball to write it down as best he could from memory and it subsequently became his most popular work, and it was even played at the funeral of Princess Diana. Elegy bears resemblance to a piece entitled Solemn Melody, composed by Thalben-Ball's contemporary Walford Davies. As Solemn Melody likely served as inspiration for Thalben-Ball, Elegy is dedicated to Davies.

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