Compositions
Child of the Future
Child of the Future is a rock musical play about the environment for junior and middle-school children. It is highly educational, with a play script, 9 catchy songs, piano scores, audio and video tracks, and can be downloaded free from:
Click on the image for details.
Three Christmas Camels
This is a set of three humorous Christmas carols featuring camels, each presented as a picture book forming part of a Singalong-‘n’-Learn Series. Each book is illustrated in full colour with amusing illustrations by Gary Beaumont of ArtFunny, and comes supplied with a QR code which, when scanned by a device connected to the internet, opens a new page on this website. Clicking on the play buttons accesses an audio track to sing along to, and a video of the same song to enjoy. The singers are professional musicians, Bethany Partridge and Josh Cooter. Each line of the song appears on a separate page, with the corresponding musical notation to help children learn to sight-read!
All three songs are arranged for mixed voices with piano accompaniment. Scores can be downloaded free of charge from the not-for-profit company AndArt Music (https://andartmusic.uk) and from this website.
Image credit : Gerd Altmann – Pixabay
Love Came Down at Christmas
(Duration: 3:08)
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti is best known today for her devotional texts that were later set to music, in particular Gustav Holst’s setting of In the Bleak Midwinter. Her poem Love Came Down at Christmas was chosen for the BBC Radio 3 Breakfast Christmas Carol Competition in 2021, and the tune for the first verse was Rilla’s competition entry. She expanded the setting and later wrote a four-part harmony. It was recorded by Soprano Bethany Partridge and Tenor Josh Cooter, and published on YouTube in November 2023.
To watch now on YouTube, click here: Video – Love Came Down at Christmas
The piece is arranged for unaccompanied SATB.
The score can be downloaded free of charge here: Score – Love Came Down at Christmas
Hymn for the Millennium
(Duration: 6:13)
This hymn was written in 1999 for the Millennium and arranged in four-part harmony. It was recorded in April 2020 and released on Easter Sunday as a prayer for the future of the world in the light of the universal struggle against Covid-19.
The piece was originally a submission in a competition initiated by St Paul’s Cathedral. The rules required that text and tune be treated as separate entities, to fit the meter 8, 7, 8, 7, (double) so as to be applicable to any suitable hymn tune such as “Love Divine All Loves Excelling.” It is therefore suitable for church congregations who may not be familiar with Rilla Paterson’s competition entry tune, which she named Durlston, after the part of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset where it was composed. Although written for the Millennium, the hymn can be sung for any closing occasion such as the end of a year. The performing artists are Bethany Partridge and Josh Cooter. Josh Cooter is also the sound engineer for the recording. It is illustrated with a transition video.
To watch now on YouTube, click here: Video – Hymn for the Millennium
The piece is arranged for SATB with piano or organ accompaniment.
The score can be downloaded free of charge here: Score – Hymn for the Millennium
Photo credit: “Lindy Hop” by Tijana Djindjic.
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
(Duration 3:45)
An arrangement for the present day of the traditional English carol “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” composed in 1995 by Rilla Paterson and set in four-part harmony with piano accompaniment. It was published during the Covid-19 lockdown, and is a reminder that even in the face of adversity, singing and dancing will always be part of the human condition. The piece is dedicated to the music teachers at Rickmansworth School, Chris Weaver and Andrew Day, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the musical life of the school. The words are believed to come from the first four verses of the Medieval Mystery Plays, by which the story of Jesus is depicted as a dance. In this setting of the words, the first two lines are derived from the first verse of the old Northumbrian folk tune “Dance to your Daddie, my little laddie, Dance to your Daddie, my little man”. Listeners may recognise this song as the signature tune for the BBC series “When the Boat Comes In”, which ran from 1976 to 1981.
To watch now on YouTube, click here: Video – Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
The piece is arranged for SATB with piano accompaniment.
The score can be downloaded free of charge here: Score – Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
The Amorous Earthworm
(Duration 5:28)
An amusing ballad for solo baritone, with piano accompaniment, telling a potentially tragic tale of unrequited love, but with a surprisingly happy ending for this lowly invertebrate. This song might make an amusing addition to a light-hearted musical event, or as a post-prandial party piece to round off an evening event. It was first performed in 1998 as general entertainment for the AGM of the Stanmore Choral Society, and recorded in 2020 during the lockdown. Improvements were made to the accompaniment in 2020 with embellishments by Orlando Cardozo.
To listen to the audio track on Bandcamp, click here: Audio – The Amorous Earthworm
The piece is arranged for solo voice with piano accompaniment. The score can be downloaded free of charge here: Score – The Amorous Earthworm