S. Claude Ridley: Evening Flowers (Graceful Sketch) @PSearPianist

S. Claude Ridley: Evening Flowers (Graceful Sketch) @PSearPianist

Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Phillip Sear plays a 1913 piece by the British organist, conductor and composer S(ebastian) Claude Ridley (1853–1924).
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Born in West Derby, Liverpool, Ridley was trained first by his father, William Ridley. He served as assistant organist at St Mary’s Church, West Derby, from 1865 to 1870, then became organist at St John’s, Tuebrook; later appointments included posts at the Liverpool Seaman’s Orphanage, Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel, and Great George Street Congregational Chapel. Additionally, he served as a choirmaster for various churches and conducted Banner’s Oratorio Choir in 1883. His recital career included prominent venues such as the Royal Albert Hall in London and St. George’s Hall in Liverpool

Ridley’s solo piano output was modest but characteristic of the late-Victorian domestic and pedagogical repertory. Within his wider catalogue, Ridley was better known for church music and popular songs than for keyboard composition. His listed works include a Church Service in G, hymn tunes, and songs such as 'The Wrecker', 'Clymene', and 'Fairy wings'.

Thumbnail image created with Picsart ( tinyl.co/4WqE ).
#britishmusic #eveningmusic #flowermusic
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Played by Phillip Sear
psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com
WhatsApp: wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: tiktok.com/@pianogems
****See all my latest videos here: tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****

S. Claude Ridley: Evening Flowers (Graceful Sketch)

Carl G. Lickl: Scherzoso

$Harvey Löhr: Läuschen und Flöhchen, Op.23 No.8 #8 from Grimm Fairy Tales (Silhouettes), Op.23 (1904). Phillip Sear plays a piece from a set of 25 by the English composer of German descent (Richard) Harvey Löhr (1856–1927). Born in Leicester, Löhr was the youngest son of the German-born organist and conductor George Augustus Löhr (1821–1897), who had settled in England and became a significant figure in the musical life of the East Midlands. The family background provided a distinctly German orientation to Harvey Löhrs early musical formation. He received his advanced training at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under William Henry Holmes, Ebenezer Prout, and Sir Arthur Sullivan. He twice won the prestigious Charles Lucas Medal, in 1877 and 1878, attesting to early distinction as a student composer. He subsequently held the post of organist at St Jamess Church, Marylebone, a position that sustained his connection to Londons musical life throughout his professional career. Löhr died in Hastings, and his manuscripts are preserved at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Löhrs piano music occupies a modest but characteristic corner of the late-Victorian keyboard repertoire, oriented towards the lyric miniature and the genre piece rather than the large-scale sonata. A Shakespeare Cycle, Op.19 (1898), a set of twelve pieces published by Schott & Co., represents his most ambitious contribution to the genre, drawing on literary imagery in a manner consistent with the characteristic piece tradition of the period. Other collections include Garden Idylls, Op.25 (1910), an album of twelve lyric pieces, and When We Were Children, Op.26 (1913), six character pieces also issued by Schott, suggesting a secondary market in pedagogical and domestic salon repertoire. Lighter pieces such as Ariel (1889) and Scenes from Fairyland, Op.21 (1901) reinforce an imaginative, illustrative approach to keyboard writing. The piano music forms only a fraction of Löhrs considerable catalogue, which includes five symphonies, two piano concertos, two string quartets, a piano quintet, a piano quartet (Op.15), and a piano trio (Op.22), alongside the operas A Border Raid (1883) and Kenilworth (1906). His choral output embraces the oratorio The Queen of Sheba, Op.20 (1900) and several anthems and part-songs, complemented by a large body of solo song. Though Löhr attracted little sustained critical attention in the twentieth century, his enduring legacy is institutional: a scholarship bearing his name was established at the Royal Academy of Music for British-born composers between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, a fund that has supported subsequent generations of student composers, among them Craig Armstrong.” (Perplexity AI, 21 June 2026). The piece is given a main English title of The Ladybird and the Fly, but the German subtitle Läuschen und Flöhchen known in English as “Little Louse and Little Flea” or “The Louse and the Flea” seems to be what the piece is about! “It is one of the shortest and most absurdist tales in the entire Grimm collection, belonging to the folklore type ATU 2022, “An Animal Mourns the Death of a Spouse”. A louse and a flea are brewing ale together when the louse falls into the brewing vat and scalds herself to death; the flea begins to weep and wail, and from that moment a chain reaction of increasingly ridiculous mourning spreads through a succession of characters — a little door starts creaking, a broom begins to sweep furiously, a cart starts running, a dung heap starts burning, a tree begins to shake its leaves, a spring starts to gush, and a little girl trips and breaks her jug — each one catching the lament from the previous and joining in the general lamentation without quite knowing why.” (Perplexity AI, 25 June 2026). Thumbnail image—showing the strange events listed by the Grimms—created with Picsart ( https://tinyl.co/4WqE ). #britishmusic #brothersgrimm #louse #flea Played by Phillip Sear http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com WhatsApp: http://wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pianogems ****See all my latest videos here: https://tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****$

A. Varlamov (arr.Charles Surrey): A Russian Barcarolle

Josef Löw: Garten-Ständchen (Garden-Serenade), Op.321

Charles D. Blake: Silvery Echoes (Reverie), Op.31

Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna: Mein Liebling, Du! (My darling child), Op.11 No.2

Hermann Necke: Nachtfahrt auf dem Königssee (Barcarolle), Op.241

Ernest Gillet: La belle polonaise (Mazurka)

Emil Hartmann: Albumsblad (Albumleaf)

$Harvey Löhr: The Golden Goose (Die goldene Gans), Op.23 No.13 #13 from Grimm Fairy Tales (Silhouettes), Op.23 (1904) Phillip Sear plays a piece from a set of 25 by the English composer of German descent (Richard) Harvey Löhr (1856–1927). Born in Leicester, Löhr was the youngest son of the German-born organist and conductor George Augustus Löhr (1821–1897), who had settled in England and became a significant figure in the musical life of the East Midlands. The family background provided a distinctly German orientation to Harvey Löhrs early musical formation. He received his advanced training at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under William Henry Holmes, Ebenezer Prout, and Sir Arthur Sullivan. He twice won the prestigious Charles Lucas Medal, in 1877 and 1878, attesting to early distinction as a student composer. He subsequently held the post of organist at St Jamess Church, Marylebone, a position that sustained his connection to Londons musical life throughout his professional career. Löhr died in Hastings, and his manuscripts are preserved at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Löhrs piano music occupies a modest but characteristic corner of the late-Victorian keyboard repertoire, oriented towards the lyric miniature and the genre piece rather than the large-scale sonata. A Shakespeare Cycle, Op.19 (1898), a set of twelve pieces published by Schott & Co., represents his most ambitious contribution to the genre, drawing on literary imagery in a manner consistent with the characteristic piece tradition of the period. Other collections include Garden Idylls, Op.25 (1910), an album of twelve lyric pieces, and When We Were Children, Op.26 (1913), six character pieces also issued by Schott, suggesting a secondary market in pedagogical and domestic salon repertoire. Lighter pieces such as Ariel (1889) and Scenes from Fairyland, Op.21 (1901) reinforce an imaginative, illustrative approach to keyboard writing. The piano music forms only a fraction of Löhrs considerable catalogue, which includes five symphonies, two piano concertos, two string quartets, a piano quintet, a piano quartet (Op.15), and a piano trio (Op.22), alongside the operas A Border Raid (1883) and Kenilworth (1906). His choral output embraces the oratorio The Queen of Sheba, Op.20 (1900) and several anthems and part-songs, complemented by a large body of solo song. Though Löhr attracted little sustained critical attention in the twentieth century, his enduring legacy is institutional: a scholarship bearing his name was established at the Royal Academy of Music for British-born composers between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, a fund that has supported subsequent generations of student composers, among them Craig Armstrong.” (Perplexity AI, 21 June 2026). “The Golden Goose (Die goldene Gans, KHM 64) is a Grimm tale about the youngest of three brothers, a humble fellow nicknamed Simpleton or Dummling, who is mocked by his family but turns out to be the one who acts with kindness and good sense. He shares his food with a little old man in the forest, and as a reward is given a golden goose, whose feathers prove irresistible: everyone who tries to pluck one gets stuck fast to the bird, so a growing procession of people ends up glued together behind it. Simpleton then passes a princess who is laughing so much at the absurd sight that she cannot stop, and the king promises her hand in marriage to whoever can make her laugh again. By the time the procession reaches the palace, more and more people have joined the comic chain, and the king’s daughter is eventually won by Simpleton, who also proves that plain honesty and generosity are worth more than his brothers’ cleverness. The tale ends in the familiar Grimm spirit of reversal, where the despised youngest child gains fortune and status while the others are left behind. (Perplexity AI, 14 August 2026). Thumbnail image created with Picsart ( https://tinyl.co/4WqE ). #britishmusic #brothersgrimm #goldengoose Played by Phillip Sear http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com WhatsApp: http://wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pianogems ****See all my latest videos here: https://tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****$

Ernest H. Sheppard (arr. Priestley): Rêverie du soir

S. Claude Ridley: Evening Flowers (Graceful Sketch)