Songs For All Seasons

Today's song of the day is a little early, seasonally, but it is the latest performance I have received back from one of my Beta choirs. When I was making my initial list, right at the beginning of this project, of festivals and occasions I wanted to write songs for, I came across a few that were new to me. Lammas is one of these. Lammas (from Old English hlāfmæsse , "loaf-mass"), also known as Loaf Mass Day, is a Christian holiday celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere on 1 August. The name originates from the word "loaf" in reference to bread and "Mass" in reference to the Eucharist. It is a festival in the liturgical calendar to mark the blessing of the First Fruits of harvest, with a loaf of bread being brought to the church for this purpose. Lammastide falls at the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. Christians also have church processions to bakeries, where those working therein are ...

I thought I might do a regular "Song of the Day" feature. It won't be every day as that would necessitate writing 365 songs, and an extra Leap Year one! But, yesterday, 6th October 2024, was the official celebration of Harvest Festival in the UK. So to celebrate this day, today's Song of the Day is The Corn-Song by John Greenleaf Whittier. Get the music for this song for free -  find out how here. The Corn-Song By John Greenleaf Whittier Heap high the farmer’s wintry hoard! Heap high the golden corn! No richer gift has Autumn poured From out her lavish horn! Let other lands, exulting, glean The apple from the pine, The orange from its glossy green, The cluster from the vine; We better love the hardy gift Our rugged vales bestow, To cheer us when the storm shall drift Our harvest-fields with snow. Through vales of grass and meads of flowers Our ploughs their furrows made, While on the hills the sun and showers Of changeful April played. We dropped the seed o’er hill an...