Archive | Song Stories

Song Stories: When My Roots Begin To Grow

Categories: Music And Science Mini Units, Music Teaching Activities (Primary), Song Stories

A song composed to assist with the study of flowering plants in primary school . It’s up-beat and uses relevant vocabulary and concepts for 7-11 year-olds

Song Stories: Buffalo Stories

Categories: Song Stories

A song composed for the 70th Reunion commemorations of the descendants of John and Susanna Adams, who arrived in South Australia in December 1836 aboard HMS Buffalo. The song is a combined shanty and lullaby.

Song Stories: Lullaby Of Silences

Categories: Choiry Endeavours, Song Stories

A lullaby composed for The Bridge Singers (SATB choir) of Felton and Thirston in Northumberland. It is inspired by the stature of Elizabeth Dacre Howard at Lanercost Priory in Cumbria, who died in 1883 at the age of four months.

Song Stories: Short Sunrise Songs

Categories: Composery Life, Song Stories

I wrote four short songs during 2023, all inspired by sunrise walks.

Song Stories: The Lamb

Categories: Choiry Endeavours, Song Stories

It’s a lamb…and a child! This lilting setting of William Blake’s poem has been another very popular song with children’s and adult choirs. Here’s its story:

Song Stories: Papa-Moose

Categories: Composery Life, Song Stories

A song commissioned for the 70th birthday of Neal, using stories and anecdotes from his life, as related by

Song Stories: Lullaby Of Robert Landreth

Categories: Song Stories

A song I wrote In 2010 for my friends from the Landreth family in Owaka in Otago in New Zealand who were hosting a reunion of the descendants of Robert Landreth, a stonemason from The Borders region of southern Scotland, who travelled to New Zealand in 1850.