Song for My Children (A Te)
From the song cycle, Songs For Marvellous
Song for my Children (A Te) - Mezzo Soprano and Piano | Range: A3 - E5
In Memoriam
Marvellous John Bartholomew Jarman-Pinto
3rd September 2014
285g
Modena, Italy
Programme Notes
On Marvy’s first birthday, I wanted to write him a song. I took Happy Birthday and reversed and harmonised it. It’s amazing how poignant and still it can be in a different form. But there the music rested. I would try to move it forwards, and to compose more, but it never responded. It was self-contained but incomplete. It just seemed to... be.
Three years passed and Hull Urban Opera commissioned me to write a song for their Brain Jar Session #2. Marvy’s fourth birthday was in a few months; Otis, our second was a glorious two and a half years; and I was 38 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Vita. This was the perfect moment to complete the song cycle, and Songs for my Children (A Te), after four years of trying, seemed to write itself within a day.
This song is a lullaby of joy, of family and of siblings. Here I honour all of my children.
Song For My Children (A Te) is dedicated to my online “village” - a group of mums and their children who were a lifeline to me over five years.
It was premiered by Poppy Shotts, Stephanie Halsey and Ben Newton at Hull Urban Opera on 18th and 19th July 2014. With thanks to Russell Plows of HUOC for commissioning the final song in the cycle.
A note on the title: Marvellous was born in Italy and the Happy Birthday song is translated to 'Tanti Auguri a Te’.
Performance Instructions
This is a more joyful piece. It is a lullaby in its truest sense, with no metaphors of death associated with sleep
The vocal part has a light, folky lilt to it, but was written with classically trained singers in mind so stay true to your voice rather than changing the sound or genre.
The piano part is slow and steady - almost to a point of being too slow - full of presence, but with a delicate touch.
PDF Digital Download
2 Copy License (Singer and Pianist)
Please support self-published composers and buy extra copies rather than photocopying
From the song cycle, Songs For Marvellous
Song for my Children (A Te) - Mezzo Soprano and Piano | Range: A3 - E5
In Memoriam
Marvellous John Bartholomew Jarman-Pinto
3rd September 2014
285g
Modena, Italy
Programme Notes
On Marvy’s first birthday, I wanted to write him a song. I took Happy Birthday and reversed and harmonised it. It’s amazing how poignant and still it can be in a different form. But there the music rested. I would try to move it forwards, and to compose more, but it never responded. It was self-contained but incomplete. It just seemed to... be.
Three years passed and Hull Urban Opera commissioned me to write a song for their Brain Jar Session #2. Marvy’s fourth birthday was in a few months; Otis, our second was a glorious two and a half years; and I was 38 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Vita. This was the perfect moment to complete the song cycle, and Songs for my Children (A Te), after four years of trying, seemed to write itself within a day.
This song is a lullaby of joy, of family and of siblings. Here I honour all of my children.
Song For My Children (A Te) is dedicated to my online “village” - a group of mums and their children who were a lifeline to me over five years.
It was premiered by Poppy Shotts, Stephanie Halsey and Ben Newton at Hull Urban Opera on 18th and 19th July 2014. With thanks to Russell Plows of HUOC for commissioning the final song in the cycle.
A note on the title: Marvellous was born in Italy and the Happy Birthday song is translated to 'Tanti Auguri a Te’.
Performance Instructions
This is a more joyful piece. It is a lullaby in its truest sense, with no metaphors of death associated with sleep
The vocal part has a light, folky lilt to it, but was written with classically trained singers in mind so stay true to your voice rather than changing the sound or genre.
The piano part is slow and steady - almost to a point of being too slow - full of presence, but with a delicate touch.
PDF Digital Download
2 Copy License (Singer and Pianist)
Please support self-published composers and buy extra copies rather than photocopying