Gordon Balch Nevin (1892–1943) was a second cousin to the better-known Ethelbert Nevin and was a tireless
organ teacher for two years at Hiram College and for twelve years at Westminster College. (Two rare photos were contributed
by Westminster College.) For one year, he lived in Boston arranging music for the Skinner “Orchestrator” player
organ.
In Memoriam may have been Nevin’s response to the Battle of Verdun which began in February 1916
and produced around 700,000 dead over the year; or perhaps it was his response to the Battle of Jutland which began on May 31
and lasted until the next day but yielded more than 8,600 deaths; or perhaps he was considering “The Great War”
as a whole up to that point. He gave this piece the subtitle of “An Elegy for the Organ”; an elegy is a lament
for the dead.
It was the third in this series from Clayton F Summy. (Also in this set:
1 ,
2 ,
4 )
For a sample of Nevin’s writing, read this free PDF,
“
What Small-Town
Music Needs.” Moderately easy.