This late organ sonata is actually the third version of the Severn Suite, originally composed in 1930. Thus to trace its history one must go back to its original conception. In March of that year Elgar returned to pieces he had composed as far back as 1878: a symphony he had written on harmonic framework of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor (this done primarily as an exercise), and various pieces he had written for a wind quintet of unusual make-up. The occasion was a commission for a work to celebrate the 25th Brass Band Competition Festival, held annually at the Crystal Palace. The composer fashioned the older material into a suite for brass band (which, by British definition, consists exclusively of brass, with no woodwinds). The suite comprised an introduction, toccata, fugue (this was a later piece, from 1923), minuet, and coda. Elgar dedicated this work to George Bernard Shaw, who responded with self-deprecating gratitude. In 1932 Elgar rescored the work for orchestra. The organ transcription came about shortly thereafter when Sir Ivor Atkins, the noted organist, suggested that Elgar arrange the suite for organ; although no mean hand at the organ himself, Elgar suggested that Atkins do the arrangement, and worked with him on it for the rest of the year.

Most conspicuous among Atkins' changes are the omission of the minuet and a new coda. The robust introduction seems derived from the Mozart symphony's minuet, with major mode substituted for the minor. In character the minuet is transformed from tragic to ceremonial, and seems so perfectly suited to the medium of the organ that it is hard to imagine that it was not originally conceived for that instrument. After this grandiose start comes the Bach-influenced toccata, initially seeming to pay homage to the Baroque master but soon evolving into the headlong nervous momentum typical of Elgar. The following fugue is a solemn, deliberately paced piece, changed the original key of C minor to B flat minor. A closing passage in the vox celeste register leads to a full-blooded restatement of the introduction, bringing the work full circle to a festive close.

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