Zen Garden

SKU: FP.FWS10

ISBN 979-0-57050-321-6.

The collected songs for voice and piano of aclaimed choral conductor and arranger Stephen Wilkinson. This album includes settings of Marvell's poem The Garden, a joyful expression of horticultural delights that cleverly combines an almost atonal idiom with elements of a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. The title work The Sunlight on the Garden is a setting of the MacNeice poem of the same name, and evokes darker moods of wartime by the use of a constantly evolving harmonic palette. In the field of choral music, Stephen Wilkinson is a genius. (Yorkshire Post) Simply a great choral conductor (South China Times) No praise could overstate the merits of Stephen Wilkinson's direction (The Guardian).

SKU: HL.14033258

ISBN 9780711991576. English(UK).

A delightful collection of seven songs with narration especially written for young children by Jennifer Porter, arranged by Alison Hedger. The songs follow the preparation of the garden, sowing seeds, discovering flowers, harvesting vegetables and picking fruit. Each song can be sung individually, or performed in sequence any time of year, as a mini-musical lasting approximately 20 minutes. Several of the songs are ideal for use in the autumn at harvest celebrations. If you need to license a school/youth theatre performance of this product, please use the online application form.

SKU: AP.49552

ISBN 9781470649081. UPC: 038081569864. English.

Taking a page from the humorous and energetic movie, Gnomeo & Juliet, this fun piece depicts the famous garden gnomes of England dancing and entertaining in their flower and vegetable gardens. A perfect concert or contest piece! (2:18).

SKU: FG.55009-402-4

ISBN 979-0-55009-402-4.

According to Rautavaara The name of the work is a quotation from the libretto of my opera The House of the Sun: . . .like a butterfly in a dark autumn garden. . .. The motif to which these words are sung is the theme for the variations in the first movement. Their texture gradually grows and becomes denser. Following on without a break is a slow, poetic movement of even rhythms and dynamics. The quick, lively finale begins giocoso e leggiero. But autumn is also a time of colour, and of death. At the end the music thus turns into a festive dance con grandezza. Maybe it bears the echo of a sarabande to the dying splendour of summer - or as T.S. Eliot put it: late roses filled with early snow. Autumn Gardens was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and premiered at the London Proms in July 1999.

SKU: FP.FBS03

ISBN 9790570500192.

Sarah Baker is Vocal Composer in Residence at Education Music Services, an ABRSM examiner and a well known composer of songs and musicals for primary schools and massed-choral events.

All this experience has come together in the creation of this album of piano pieces, inspired by growing up in the Chiltern Hills. Suitable for players of around grade 4-5 standard, her evocative sound pieces describe a crash-landing hot air balloon, garden invading cows and a even a snake in a pond!

Air Balloon!: One vivid memory I have as a child is of the day that a hot air balloon passed over our house and made an emergency landing on the road in front! The sound of the gas being blown into the balloon to try to keep it high enough to pass the house sounded so loud and intimidating, and then there was the bustle of the neighbours as we all went out into the street to watch. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to watch the balloon float past and then land so near by.

Buzzards Circling: There is something so calming and restful about watching birds of prey circling in the thermal currents of a summer sky. Growing up in the Chilterns gave me plenty of opportunity to watch buzzards and red kites. This piano solo captures the beauty of their flight as they glide so effortlessly through the air.

There’s A Cow In The Garden Eating The Flowers: Inspired by the memory of seeing an unexpected cow in the garden! This surreal image is captured in a quirky waltz, as I portray both the absurdity of the moment and the sense of wonder I felt as a child, looking out of the window and seeing the cow walking round and eating the flowers. The final phrase articulates my longing: ‘I wish it would come again’.

Watching The World Go By: A short, reflective piece, remembering what it was like to have time to just sit and watch the world go by from my bedroom window.

Autumn Skies: A miniature about the beauty of Autumn skies and the poignant sense of loss for a summer gone. Friends I was fortunate to have several children of my own age living close by. We seemed to be forever making dens, playing out in the street and generally enjoying each other’s company. This piece reflects that sense of well-being.

Snake In The Pond: One hot summer I was astonished and scared to see a grass snake cooling off in our garden pond! I watched, both horrified and fascinated, as it rose up from the depths and then disappeared again. Here I portray the sense of the hazy summer afternoon as I peacefully watched the tiny movements of fish in the pond, contrasted with the fear and excitement of seeing the snake appear.

Morning Commute: I recollect many mornings stuck in traffic as my Dad took me to school on his way to work. There is one main road out of the village where I grew up, and that got more and more congested the closer we got to the town. We may not have chatted a lot, but it was always good to be together with my Dad, lost in our own thoughts.

The Witch’s Cottage: My siblings and I had a fascination with a small cottage nearby. It was set back from the road in a dark part of the woods and we called it 'the witch's cottage’. Every time we passed, I imagined I heard the distant cackle of the witch and wished I could catch a glimpse of her.

These pieces are written to complement my other collection, Night Time Impressions, which also draw on childhood recollections, particularly of the woods behind the house where I grew up. - Sarah Baker 2023.