Fancy on an Anonymous Catch - (2011) ![](images/01_Little_Green_Dot.gif)
for organ
As with the other fancies in this small collection of organ fantasias, the theme is drawn from The Catch Club or Merry Companions being a Choice Collection of the most Diverting Catches for three and Four voices Compos'd by the late Mr. Henry Purcell, Dr. Blow & c. The text for this round [ 1 ] reads: "Here dwells a pretty Maid whose Name is Sis, / you may come in and Kiss; / her hole estate is seventeen Pence a year; / Yet you may kiss her, / if you come but near." The intended double-entendre explains for me both the reason a citation of the author is absent in the collection, and also that the gentlemen -- Purcell, Blow, Clarke and their contemporaries -- had their bawdy fun with some of the catches as published.
After a set of gestures to introduce the theme, it is stated in the upper voice, a ground bass provided beneath it for several periods. The second voice enters at the pickup to measure thirteen, and then is taken up by the pedal.
![](images_4/Fancy_Anonymous_Catch_1.gif)
Some episodes break the repetitions of the theme, these based on the major/minor relationship found at the end cadence of the catch in distinction to its general tonality.
![](images_4/Fancy_Anonymous_Catch_2.gif)
The entire work is here,
, an MP3 file [ circa 2' 30" ]
The score for Fancy on an Anonymous Catch is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.
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Fancy on an Anonymous Catch
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NOTES [ 1 ] The simple round is as follows: ![](images_4/Fancy_Anonymous_Catch_pix.gif)
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