Cathedral Organist plays Felix Burns

Proudly presenting a great version of Mignonette, as arranged for the organ by Damian Howard.

Damian is the organist at Lancaster Cathedral, and also the great-great-grandson of the composer, Felix Burns.

Here he plays his own arrangement of Mignonette, on Lancaster Cathedral's Ainscough-Willis organ, installed in 1889.

Mignonette was originally published as a piano solo, light classical in style, but might have an unsettling backstory, involving a lost ship and cannibalism at sea.  You can read that story here.

Damian has played the Blackett and Howden organ that Felix Burns played at Our Lady and St. Joseph's church in Carlisle, and is using the stops the composer himself would have been familiar with.

Felix Burns was a versatile performer and composer, producing more than 400 compositions.

He composed pieces for many styles of performer; for the band playing for Saturday night dancing, for marching with the military band, for pupils of all ages, and for family entertainment at home.

In church, he played the great classical masses on the organ, and many of his more formal piano solos show signs of classical influence.