Chorale Partita III on "Harmony of Zion"

Composer Notes... A large scale set of variations on a melody by William Tans’ur in which the theme and variations appear within a Ritornello. This work is dedicated to Gordon Slater and is the composer’s favourite of his own pieces.

Tans’ur appears to be an English version of the name Tanzer which possibly indicates a German family settled in England. He published metrical psalm tunes in 1735 in a collection called “The Harmony of Zion”. Very little is known about him but he appears to have been a peripatetic instructor of psalm singing. The present melody is called “Bangor” in English hymn books.