Songs For All Seasons

The second of our Hallowe'en-themed songs brings to life a delightful poem by John Kendrick Bangs. His enchanting Hallowe'en poem is a joyful celebration of the whimsical side of the holiday, filled with "raisins and nuts," glowing Jack-o'-lanterns, and the carefree mischief that dances through the night, inviting us to indulge without a second thought of reprisal, if only for this magical evening. John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 – January 21, 1922) was an American writer, humorist, editor, and satirist, who crafted a whole genre of writing in his name. "Bangsian fantasy" is a captivating genre that takes us into the afterlife, presenting a stage where its characters—often renowned historical or fictional figures—enact their tales and relationships. A contemporary embodiment of this genre can be seen in the TV show "The Good Place". Get the music for this song for free...

It is spooky season and I have written not one but two Hallowe'en songs, both called confusingly, "Hallowe'en"! The first is by Madison Julius Cawein, an American poet who was the son of a herbalist. His output numbered thirty-six books and 1,500 poems. His writing presented Kentucky scenes in a language echoing Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. He soon earned the nickname the "Keats of Kentucky". This poem is a story of a lost love, returning as a ghostly revenant on Hallowe'en! Get the music for this song for free -  find out how here. 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 Hallowe’en By Madison Julius Cawein It was down in the woodland on last Hallowe'en, Where silence and darkness had built them a lair, That I felt the dim presence of her, the unseen, And heard her still step on the ghost-haunted air. It was last Hallowe'en in the glimmer an...

I don't have a Song of the Day for you today - although I do have two Hallowe'en songs coming up over the next couple of days, followed by songs for All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  So instead, today I am going to share a video from my choir's summer concert - this is The Lidun Singers with Fylde Sinfonia singing O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. I cannot wait for the day when I can actually share real actual choirs singing my music!! But until that day comes, this will have to suffice! 

Today is my birthday! 21 again, natch 😀 Mark this day, for in years (or decades, or centuries) to come, when I am dead and famous, people will say "In honour of Julie Cavanagh, who would have been however many years old today, we play her beloved setting of 'To My Daughter on her Birthday'!" Well, a girl can dream, can't she?? "To My Daughter on her Birthday" was written by Thomas Hood, an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for The London Magazine, Athenaeum, and Punch. He later published a magazine largely consisting of his own works. Hood, never robust, had lapsed into invalidism by the age of 41 and died at the age of 45. He wrote this poem for his daughter Frances for her ninth birthday, in 1839. He was to die only 6 years later. I have annotated the score so that, with a little judicious jiggery-pokery...

We're feeling the love today at SFAS! With weddings as our theme, today's Song of the Day is a special tribute to my parents, who just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary 11 days ago. We're showcasing a setting of the poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet. While the poem is written from a wife's perspective, the second and third verses have a lovely universality to them. In my setting, the sopranos and altos take the lead on the first verse, then the tenors and basses represent the husband's response in the second verse, and finally, everyone comes together for the third verse, singing lovingly to each other. Anne Bradstreet was born in England in 1612 and married at just 16 before emigrating with her parents and young family to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. She became one of the most notable early English poets in North America and was the first writer from the North American colonies to be published. Get the music for this son...

Today's Song of the Day revolves around the theme of Graduation.  It is a simple setting of a poignant poem called The Graduate Leaving College by George Moses Horton. This would make a stunning choice for your university choir to perform on Graduation Day! Imagine the joy of starting a cherished tradition of singing it every year. Horton was an extraordinary man. Born into the harsh realities of slavery in North Carolina, he broke barriers as the first African American author to be published in the United States. Around 1817, at the tender age of about 19, Horton undertook the daunting 10-mile journey north to Chapel Hill to sell fruits and farm products for his master. During this time, Horton channelled his deep emotions into crafting love poems for the University of North Carolina students, selling them for 25 cents or more. Remarkably, he had not yet learned to write, instead composing them in his mind and reciting them to the students. He achieved his first publication in 182...

Oh dear dear dear. Now my personal hotmail address, the one I have had for at least a decade, has been locked!! This is causing me a lot of trouble as I'm having to change all my log ins for EVERYTHING. Who would have thought by sending a few emails out to a few choirs to try and drum up a bit of buzz about my little project they would think I was sending spam. I am very sad. So, again I am changing the contact email address on this site so you lovely people still have a way of getting in touch with me. It is now: juliereilly1972@gmail.com If you are curious about the difference in surname - Reilly is my married name but I will be using my maiden name of Cavanagh on my music, so I set this project up using Cavanagh from the start to avoid confusion.