Book/USB Flash Drive Pack. Composed by Various. Real Book Play-Along. Softcover with USB. 464 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

(E-Flat Instruments, Mini Edition). Composed by Various. For E-flat Instruments. Fake Book. Softcover. 464 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

(Bass Clef Instruments, Mini Edition). Composed by Various. For Bass Clef Instruments. Fake Book. Softcover. 464 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

(Sixth Edition) Fakebook (spiral bound) for bass clef instrument. With melody, standard notation and chord names. Series: Hal Leonard Instrumental Fake Books. 462 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

Chamber Music Piano

SKU: PR.140401330

Composed by R. Nathaniel Dett. Edited by Lara Downes. 32 pages. Duration 18 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #140-40133. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.140401330).

ISBN 9781491134412. UPC: 680160684939.

Natha niel Dett was among America’s leading composers in the early 20th century, and MAGNOLIA SUITE is a beautiful example of his rich, hybrid style. Deeply inspired by the music and mission of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Dett’s piano music springs from the late Romantic traditions of florid texture and embellishment, along with programmatic titles and raw emotion. It is notable for melody writing inspired by and paraphrasing African-American song. The 18-minute MAGNOLIA SUITE contains five movements, any of which may also be performed separately. This edition by Lara Downes provides a clean, new engraving that corrects the many errors and unclear indications appearing in the historical printing.
Robert Nathaniel Dett was born in a place that was built on freedom. The little village of Drummondville, Ontario was founded by enslaved Africans – Dett’s ancestors among them – who traveled the Underground Railroad out of the American South into Canada. Their journey brought them to a safe haven, a place where fortunes and futures could be transformed in the span of one generation, to lives full of new possibilities. You could call it “the place where the rainbow ends,” which is the title of the last movement of Dett’s Magnolia Suite.When Dett wrote these pieces, he was a young teacher at Lane College in Tennessee, a historically Black college that had been founded in 1882, the year of his birth. A place built on freedom, with the purpose of educating newly-emancipated slaves – a place designed to nurture the blossoming of ideas, the vibrant flowering of minds set free. This music is inspired by the gorgeous splendor of the magnolia blooms on that college campus, and also by the shared histories, experiences, and aspirations of the community that Dett found there.These five pieces pay affectionate tribute to lineage and legacy. They express gratitude for the bittersweet beauties of the present; nostalgia for the past (a bit romanticized, as the past always is); and an effervescent optimism for the future that awaits us in the place where the rainbow ends.

(Sixth Edition) For C instrument. Format: fakebook (spiral bound). With melody, standard notation and chord names. Jazz. Series: Hal Leonard Instrumental Fake Books. 512 pages. 8.5x11 inches. Published by Hal Leonard.

Fakebook (spiral bound) for voice and C instrument. With vocal melody, lyrics, chord names and leadsheet notation. Series: Hal Leonard Fake Books. 407 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

Guitar; Methods and Music for Children

SKU: UT.CH-157

Composed by Giorgio Signorile. Saddle stitching. Classical. Score and Parts. 40 pages. Ut Orpheus #CH 157. Published by Ut Orpheus (UT.CH-157).

ISBN 9790215320369. 9 x 12 inches.

Vals d'la Masca; Il racconto della Montagna; Sequenze sotterranee

Th e Alpinia Suite was commissioned and composed for the festival <> and is dedicated to my friend and colleague Elio Galvagno. It was performed for the first time on August 30, 2011, in the Church of San Giovanni in Saluzzo, by an ensemble of professional and student guitarists from all over Europe. This piece was written to commemorate the first ascent of mount Monviso, by William Mathews, Frederick Jacomb, Jean Baptiste Croz and Michel Croz, exactly 150 years before, on August 30, 1861.
The first movement is a small Waltz. I imagined a Masca (a sort of alpine pixie, a teasing sprite), dancing all around the house and playing tricks, mostly harmless and funny. The Masca is a legendary and very important character in the folklore of my valleys, and all rationally inexplicable events of everyday life are ascribed to her - such as objects that cannot be found anymore, holes in flour sacks, salt in sugar bowls...
The next two movements are a homage to the Mountains. The Tale is a sort of journal, a bright and peaceful chronicle of a hike uphill, in which the beauty of the place is highlighted by an easy harmony and a sweet melody. After this, Underground sequences evokes that same world in a darker and nocturnal way; the faster pace and the choice of repeated and varying patterns are meant to show the transformation of the former environment into something more complex and tormented. Here mountains are a metaphor of human life, warts and all: their sundrenched slopes and their green pasture grasslands, but also their icy and dangerous northern sides, which demand calm, training and caution.
(G. Signorile).

F Instruments. Composed by Various. Fake Book. Jazz. Softcover. 464 pages. Published by Hal

C Instruments. By Various. Fake Book (Includes melody line and chords). Published by Hal Leonard.

Edited by Amy Appleby. Collection and examples CD for easy solo piano. Over 200 best-loved Christian hymns that have inspired praise and worship for over four centuries. Series: Piano Treasury Series. 392 pages. Published by Music Sales.

Fake Book (Includes melody line and chords). Size 8.5x11 inches. 462 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

(Book/USB Flash Drive Play-Along Pack). By Various. For C Instruments. Real Book Play-Along. USB Flash Drive. 462 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

Arranged by Jack Grassel. Composed by Various. Arranged by Jack Grassel. Fake Book. Jazz. Softcover. 456 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

Choral SSA Choir, piano, flute

SKU: CF.CM9583

Composed by Christopher Gabel. Sws. Performance Score. 20 pages. Duration 4 minutes, 9 seconds. Carl Fischer Music #CM9583. Published by Carl Fischer Music (CF.CM9583).

ISBN 9781491154052. UPC: 680160912551. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. Key: Eb major. English. Thomas Moore (1779-1852).

Thomas Moore (17791852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer. In his poem, On Music, Moore emphasizes the power that music has in our lives and the ability it has to evoke memories and feelings from the past. Music transcends that which can be spoken or felt. The beauty of making music together is to establish meaningful connections with others and to share a common language through song. We are reminded, however, that relationships with each other can be fluid or unstable, but as the words of the poem remind us, music will not betray. No matter the experiences that we face, the relationships that we foster, or the memories that we create, music will always be there for us in times of need and in times of celebration. What does music mean to you? How does it enrich your life? On Music Thomas Moore When through life unblest we rove, Losing all that made life dear, Should some notes we used to love, In days of boyhood, meet our ear, Oh! how welcome breathes the strain! Wakening thoughts that long have slept, Kindling former smiles again In faded eyes that long have wept. Like the gale, that sighs along Beds of oriental flowers, Is the grateful breath of song, That once was heard in happier hours. Filld with balm the gale sighs on, Though the flowers have sunk in death; So, when pleasures dream is gone, Its memory lives in Musics breath. Music, oh, how faint, how weak, Language fades before thy spell! Why should Feeling ever speak, When thou canst breathe her soul so well? Friendships balmy words may feign, Loves are even more false than they; Oh! tis only musics strain Can sweetly soothe, and not betray. Note to the performer: Liberty can be taken with the tempo markings and rubato should be used throughout in order to further stress the beauty and significance of the text. With its vocal-like descant, the flute should be treated as an additional voice rather than mere accompaniment to enhance the texture of the piece.
Thomas Moore (1779a1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer. In his poem, On Music, Moore emphasizes the power that music has in our lives and the ability it has to evoke memories and feelings from the past. Music transcends that which can be spoken or felt. The beauty of making music together is to establish meaningful connections with others and to share a common language through song. We are reminded, however, that relationships with each other can be fluid or unstable, but as the words of the poem remind us, music will not betray. No matter the experiences that we face, the relationships that we foster, or the memories that we create, music will always be there for us in times of need and in times of celebration. What does music mean to you? How does it enrich your life? On Music a Thomas Moore When through life unblest we rove, Losing all that made life dear, Should some notes we used to love, In days of boyhood, meet our ear, Oh! how welcome breathes the strain! Wakening thoughts that long have slept, Kindling former smiles again In faded eyes that long have wept. Like the gale, that sighs along Beds of oriental flowers, Is the grateful breath of song, That once was heard in happier hours. Fillad with balm the gale sighs on, Though the flowers have sunk in death; So, when pleasureas dream is gone, Its memory lives in Musicas breath. Music, oh, how faint, how weak, Language fades before thy spell! Why should Feeling ever speak, When thou canst breathe her soul so well? Friendshipas balmy words may feign, Loveas are even more false than they; Oh! atis only musicas strain Can sweetly soothe, and not betray. Note to the performer: Liberty can be taken with the tempo markings and rubato should be used throughout in order to further stress the beauty and significance of the text. With its vocal-like descant, the flute should be treated as an additional voice rather than mere accompaniment to enhance the texture of the piece.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer. In his poem, On Music, Moore emphasizes the power that music has in our lives and the ability it has to evoke memories and feelings from the past. Music transcends that which can be spoken or felt. The beauty of making music together is to establish meaningful connections with others and to share a common language through song. We are reminded, however, that relationships with each other can be fluid or unstable, but as the words of the poem remind us, music will not betray. No matter the experiences that we face, the relationships that we foster, or the memories that we create, music will always be there for us in times of need and in times of celebration. What does music mean to you? How does it enrich your life? On Music - Thomas Moore When through life unblest we rove, Losing all that made life dear, Should some notes we used to love, In days of boyhood, meet our ear, Oh! how welcome breathes the strain! Wakening thoughts that long have slept, Kindling former smiles again In faded eyes that long have wept. Like the gale, that sighs along Beds of oriental flowers, Is the grateful breath of song, That once was heard in happier hours. Fill'd with balm the gale sighs on, Though the flowers have sunk in death; So, when pleasure's dream is gone, Its memory lives in Music's breath. Music, oh, how faint, how weak, Language fades before thy spell! Why should Feeling ever speak, When thou canst breathe her soul so well? Friendship's balmy words may feign, Love's are even more false than they; Oh! 'tis only music's strain Can sweetly soothe, and not betray. Note to the performer: Liberty can be taken with the tempo markings and rubato should be used throughout in order to further stress the beauty and significance of the text. With its vocal-like descant, the flute should be treated as an additional voice rather than mere accompaniment to enhance the texture of the piece.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer. In his poem, On Music, Moore emphasizes the power that music has in our lives and the ability it has to evoke memories and feelings from the past. Music transcends that which can be spoken or felt. The beauty of making music together is to establish meaningful connections with others and to share a common language through song. We are reminded, however, that relationships with each other can be fluid or unstable, but as the words of the poem remind us, music will not betray. No matter the experiences that we face, the relationships that we foster, or the memories that we create, music will always be there for us in times of need and in times of celebration. What does music mean to you? How does it enrich your life? On Music - Thomas Moore When through life unblest we rove, Losing all that made life dear, Should some notes we used to love, In days of boyhood, meet our ear, Oh! how welcome breathes the strain! Wakening thoughts that long have slept, Kindling former smiles again In faded eyes that long have wept. Like the gale, that sighs along Beds of oriental flowers, Is the grateful breath of song, That once was heard in happier hours. Fill'd with balm the gale sighs on, Though the flowers have sunk in death; So, when pleasure's dream is gone, Its memory lives in Music's breath. Music, oh, how faint, how weak, Language fades before thy spell! Why should Feeling ever speak, When thou canst breathe her soul so well? Friendship's balmy words may feign, Love's are even more false than they; Oh! 'tis only music's strain Can sweetly soothe, and not betray. Note to the performer: Liberty can be taken with the tempo markings and rubato should be used throughout in order to further stress the beauty and significance of the text. With its vocal-like descant, the flute should be treated as an additional voice rather than mere accompaniment to enhance the texture of the piece.
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer. In his poem, On Music, Moore emphasizes the power that music has in our lives and the ability it has to evoke memories and feelings from the past. Music transcends that which can be spoken or felt. The beauty of making music together is to establish meaningful connections with others and to share a common language through song.We are reminded, however, that relationships with each other can be fluid or unstable, but as the words of the poem remind us, music will not betray. No matter the experiences that we face, the relationships that we foster, or the memories that we create, music will always be there for us in times of need and in times of celebration. What does music mean to you? How does it enrich your life?On Music – Thomas MooreWhen through life unblest we rove,Losing all that made life dear,Should some notes we used to love,In days of boyhood, meet our ear,Oh! how welcome breathes the strain!Wakening thoughts that long have slept,Kindling former smiles againIn faded eyes that long have wept.Like the gale, that sighs alongBeds of oriental flowers,Is the grateful breath of song,That once was heard in happier hours.Fill’d with balm the gale sighs on,Though the flowers have sunk in death;So, when pleasure’s dream is gone,Its memory lives in Music’s breath.Music, oh, how faint, how weak,Language fades before thy spell!Why should Feeling ever speak,When thou canst breathe her soul so well?Friendship’s balmy words may feign,Love’s are even more false than they;Oh! ’tis only music’s strainCan sweetly soothe, and not betray.Note to the performer: Liberty can be taken with the tempo markings and rubato should be used throughout in order to further stress the beauty and significance of the text. With its vocal-like descant, the flute should be treated as an additional voice rather than mere accompaniment to enhance the texture of the piece.

Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.164002720

Cassatt. Composed by Dan Welcher. Spiral and Saddle. Premiere: Cassatt Quartet, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Contemporary. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed 2007. WRT11142. 52+16+16+16+16 pages. Duration 24 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00272. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.164002720).

UPC: 680160573042. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

String quartet String Quartet

SKU: PR.16400272S

Cassatt. Composed by Dan Welcher. Premiere: Cassatt Quartet, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Contemporary. Full score. With Standard notation. Composed 2007. WRT11142. 52 pages. Duration 24 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00272S. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.16400272S).

UPC: 680160588442. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

By Frank Ticheli. Concert band. Suitable for advanced middle school, high school, community and college bands. Level: Grade 3. Conductor score and set of parts. Duration 6:30. Published by Manhattan Beach Music.

Piano Solo - Easy-Intermediate

SKU: FP.FBS03

Composed by Sarah Baker. Sheet Music and Books. Nine pieces on a day time theme for solo piano, by Sarah Baker. Suggested grade 4-5. Classical. Collection. Forsyths Publications #FBS03. Published by Forsyths Publications (FP.FBS03).

ISBN 9790570500192.

Sara h 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’.

Wat ching 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.