I was lucky today to have come across a composition by my grandmother written in 1939 when she was 16. She set the words of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 to music for soprano duet and piano. It's a lovely little tune with extraordinary harmonies and beautiful counter-melodies. I am totally awestruck and had no idea my grandma was this accomplished a composer.

Unfortunately she died on June 30th this year, quite unexpectedly, from a rare heart conditions which, cruelly, shows no symptoms, except death at the end. I never knew about her composing until today and am really quite devastated I never got to discuss it with her; ask her for tips, hints, etc.

Now I've been rooting through all her manuscript books and will endeavour to copy all songs and pieces onto Sibelius to give to my auntie (my dad's sister who lived to support my grandma) as a memory of this truly wonderful woman.

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

I'm so proud to have known her

thank you for sharing this with us i am sure your auntie will love it x

Oh sorry to hear about your grandmother, Choddy. I'm sure she was a wonderful person as well, and it's great that she left a legacy of music behind. Maybe one day, someone will perform her piece in public to give her the tribute she deserves.

Wow this is lovely You know where you get some of your own musical talents from!

A great momento - and tribute

Ah, that is lovely - a nice way to remember her by

*hugs Nick*

What a lovely way to remember her by! I'm sure your auntie will love it!
<33

Hi Choddy

That's a beautiful story.

Putting it on Sibelius is a fine idea, but surely you must record it.

If you can play the piano part then you just need two wonderful sopranos and, rightly or wrongly, JOD and Katyjay popped into my mind. Now it's completely wrong of me to put them forward given that I haven't discussed it with them and they may not have even read the thread. And I know that neither are exactly neighbours. (So please forgive me, K and J.) But if they can't do it someone else will.

And there's a guy around here somewhere who is a genius at recording live piano music (and has very expensive microphones).

You really must record your Grandmother's work. As I said, it's a beautiful story. I just think the end needs to be heard.

Best wishes

barry

Choddy, beautiful.

Has anyone else inherited your grandmother's gift as well as you?

That's beautiful Choddy,

[gentle hug]

Auntie Ambs
xxx

My dad and two brothers are both really musical as well.

Sorting through the rest of the piles of music from her house today, I found a composition by my great great uncle, who wrote the music to a poem my grandmother wrote at 9 years old!

It seems my family has a long musical tradition!

Thanks everybody

That's wonderful, Choddy xx

Awww!

It would be wonderful to have good copies of it, and it would also be lovely if you could have someone record it for you, if you can find willing volunteers.

Hi Choddy

I certainly wouldn't categorise myself as wonderful (!), but if you'd be interested in my singing one of the parts then please let me know.



Ambs
xxx

And I'd be interested in doing piano for you Chood. Unless of course you wanted to do it yourself.

I know I'm biased - but Amber and katyjay do duet BEAUTIFULLY - some people's voices just blend well and this is one combination I can thoroughly recommend - though I probably shouldn't be volunteering people when I don't even know if KJ has seen the thread

Thanks for all the kind offers folks! When I've fixed my Sibelius up (it's a bit weird at the moment) I'll get a few copies and think about who may be able to help me out.

Did write something here, but on reflection not appropriate so deleted in the edit.