English Organ Sonatas 1

The organ sonatas of William Thomas Best and William Spark are the earliest examples of English organ sonatas and mark the advent of a tradition that continues with little interruption until the mid-twentieth century. Although the exact dates of composition are unknown it seems likely that Spark’s Sonata was written in 1858 and Best’s Sonata in 1862.

The date of the Spark is more certain because the cover of the first edition states that it was performed at a music festival in Leeds Town Hall in September, 1858. However, it is also possible that both were written earlier. The cover of the Best refers to him working at Wallasey Parish Church where he was appointed in 1860. However, that does not preclude the possibility that he wrote it some years before and published it later.

As discussed in The Genesis and Development of an English Organ Sonata (2017), the English sonatas had an important pedagogical role jointly inherited from Mendelssohn’s very practical and popular approach to the instrument and the continued European legacy of the lesson-sonata tradition whereby in learning a piece you also learned the instrument and vice versa.