Happy St George’s Day

St-George's-Day-Blog

Tomorrow is the 23rd of April, St George’s Day in England and to help celebrate the occasion I thought I would share with you a beautifully composed song by the great English composer Michael Head (28 January 1900 – 24 August 1976).

The song that I have chosen uses the words of Seamus O’Sullivan’s famous poem “A Piper”, which conjures up fabulous images of a joyful celebration in which everyone involved puts aside their differences, forget their worries, stops their chores and for a brief moment rejoice in the happiness brought about by the beautiful music.

The words are brought to life by the vivid colour produced by the music of Michael Head and I do hope that you enjoy it.

A Piper – Music by Michael Head

A piper in the streets today
set up, and tuned, and started to play,
And away, away, away on the tide
of his music we started; on ev’ry side
Doors and windows were opened wide,
And men left down their work and came
And women with petticoats coloured like flame.
And little bare feet that were blue with cold
went dancing, dancing back to the age of gold,
And all the world went gay, went gay
For half an hour in the streets today.

The performance was from a recital that was held on the 19th September 2014 in St George The Martyr Church, Preston.

57 thoughts on “Happy St George’s Day”

  4. What a wonderful video. What a wonderful song. What a wonderful performance. What a beautiful lady with such a wonderful talent.

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  11. Lovely performed! The song is a little to short. The lyrics also mentions the eventl lasts half an hour. Should be the whole day fun 🙂

    Happy St. George’s Day.

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  12. A beautiful song and thank you for introducing it to me ~ so great to hear your voice while starting the day. Happy St. George’s Day.

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  13. Charlotte, loved this song, what a fantastic job you did. Happy St. George’s Day to you.

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    1. Hi Terry you’re welcome. There was a photo up at school to remind everyone it was Shakespeare’s birthday 😊, I read some great poems on blogs written in his style so his influence goes on.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

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    1. Hi Gill, it’s at the beautiful church in Preston we had trouble finding that time, glad you enjoyed it I thinks it’s the first time I’ve put it in a program.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

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  19. Beautiful song, Charlotte, and happy St. George’s Day! Amazing to think that when you wrote your post on St. George (and Shakespeare’s birthday) last year, I was still in Philadelphia anticipating my move to England, and now I am here, celebrating with the rest of you! The song captures my mood exactly–there is something so exciting about those fleeting moments of complete celebration, joy, and happiness that supersedes all of our everyday problems and makes them seem less important. I like to think that it is a little foretaste of Heaven here on earth. ” . . . back to the age of gold”–gold we can have even if we are poor in material goods. I think music and friendship and fun are much more important than money, don’t you? (although gold and jewels are certainly pretty . . . :-))

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  20. Like St. George we could use the day to slay our dragons or find peace with them.
    And today I smile celebrating St George day with a birthday.

    Happy St. George day. xxx

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    1. Yes Stephanie I know what you mean, perhaps I’ll have to compose something upbeat when I can make some time. It would be useful already knowing the words 😀.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

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  23. And all the world went gay, went gay while listening you singing …
    Splendid performance as always,great choice my lovely friend Charlotte!Happy St. George’s Day to you too 🙂 <3 xxx

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    1. I’m just catching up with everyone 😊 the last two weeks have been intense with rehearsals, performance and catching up with work that I had to put on hold until after the shows. I’m trying to save my voice and give it a day off today but I’m so tempted to sing as I’ve got new songs to learn 😳. Blogging should keep me good for a bit.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

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  26. I really enjoy listening to you sing. My daughter sings in the touring arm of the San Francisco Girls Chorus so, it has taken some time, but I have learned to appreciate a trained and beautiful voice.

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  27. Brilliant. You have a magnificent voice. Thanks for stopping by Humorous interludes. All the best to you and yours. 🙂

    Reply

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