Draft blackbird twibbon icons

Draft design for a Blackbird Twibbon. The Twibbon is a small icon which can appear in a variety of positions over your social media avatar. Because this icon is black, I have created 2 versions - one with a white background and one with a clear one. Which one you might use depends on the colour and tone of your image.

Firstly, Henry's avatar needed a white background because of the colour of his robes.


Nick, however, sporting a fashionable, pale floral shirt in his avatar, had no need of the background.


Design questions:
1. It is also possible to produce a version with the yellow beak outlined in black - I decided against it, but if people want it, it is very easy to do. Let me know.

2. Legs or no legs?

In terms of design, it is loosely based on the Twitter bird, facing the other way  and singing upwards. Its feathers are ruffled. It can also be made into an avatar in its own right, of course.

REVISION 1
Popping out for meetings, but a body shape less like the Twitter bird night look more like this - also reangled.

Sponsored sleepover - in Ripon Cathedral!

Imogen and Susie are taking part in a sponsored sleepover in Ripon Cathedral on the night of February 24th. They will be singing Evensong at 5.30pm, then Compline at 9pm and Mattins at 8.30am the following morning, following part of the pattern of services which the Benedictine monks who used to frequent the Cathedral would have used in centuries gone by. You can donate by Paypal - any amount is welcome - by clicking the button below.

They are raising money for the choir's Tours' Fund. The idea is to have a rolling programme of fundraising events to underwrite tours in the UK and worldwide. The choir aims to be ambassadors for its Cathedral, its city, for the Anglican choral tradition and to raise its own profile. It will also be an amazing experience for the choristers involved. The first foreign tour is proposed to be New Zealand in 2014.

New music

A new anthem, just finished, with words from Psalm 134, "Come, bless the Lord." for SSAA.

Here it is as a printable pdf. It would work down an octave for TTBB I imagine.

I've tried to give the 2nd altos some nice, raunchy, scrunchy notes - you know how it is with altos...

You can download an mp3 of the Sibelius output of it here or click the play button below.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Doggy stuff

I've just been prompted to add to this blog by the fact that it's been linked to by The Coffee Lady, so a warm welcome to anyone who happened to click through. This blog is mainly a repository for my music, poetry and suchlike. Here's a video I made with my dog, more recently than the last posting in here at least.
Things my dog takes and where he takes them - a song

Imogen piano solo

Another short piano piece, this one being a musical depiction of my eldest daughter, Imogen.

You can download the sheet music for this here.

Meanwhile, a rough mp3 of the piece can be heard by clicking on the play button.





Imogen by Nick Morgan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at sites.google.com.

Susie Scherzo

I wrote this piano solo to depict my 7 year old daughter Susie. I think it has her down to a T...
Usual creative commons rules apply please This is just the output from the Finale PrintMusic file of the piece but has come out pretty well I think, certainly to give the piece an airing anyway. Hope you enjoy!



The sheet music can be downloaded here. Please let me know if you perform this or any other of my pieces - I just like to know and won't be chasing you for money, though if you want to fling any in my direction, I shan't complain.


Susie Scherzo by Nick Morgan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at sites.google.com.

Sonnet CXIII

A setting of Shakespeare's Sonnet no. CXIII, composed in 1992.
Please excuse the shoddy piano playing, but you get an idea of how it's supposed to go from this...

Sacred Choral Sheet Music

Sacred Choral music
These are all original compositions by myself, apart from where they are arrangements of traditional or anonymous material, in which case this is indicated on the music itself.

You are welcome to download and print out my sheet music for free. I would also be glad of any feedback about the music.

All that I ask is that you tell me about any performances, simply as a matter of courtesy. As for recordings, that's fine too so long as you tell me and let me have a copy. A donation would be appreciated for recordings - this can be arranged via Paypal, so please ask. I like to trust people with this rather than getting all legal about it, so if you use the music, please consider making a donation of some sort.

All files are in PDF format.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Prayer of St. Nicholas de Flueli (SATB) - written for the choir of St. Barnabas, Dulwich
Easy to learn, short anthem. Works well as an anthem during communion.

Be Happy (SSAA) - setting of words from Ecclesiastes for female voices
This is moderately tricky I'd say.

Christmas Music
Down in Yon Forest (SATB) - setting of a traditional Christmas mythical text. Not too hard.

Mary's Lullaby (SATB) - a carol with an eerie, unsettling mood, with words from Mary the Mother's POV. Again, not hard to learn.

Choral sheet music for download - secular

These are all original compositions by myself, apart from where they are arrangements of traditional or anonymous material, in which case this is indicated on the music itself.

You are welcome to download and print out my sheet music for free. I would also be glad of any feedback about the music.

All that I ask is that you tell me about any performances, simply as a matter of courtesy. As for recordings, that's fine too so long as you tell me and let me have a copy. A donation would be appreciated for recordings - this can be arranged via Paypal, so please ask. I like to trust people with this rather than getting all legal about it, so if you use the music, please consider making a donation of some sort.

Right... let's see if these links will work...

Secular Choral Music

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Scarborough Fair (arrangement for SATB)
Captures the slightly sinister mood of the words well, I think. First performed in Helmsley Walled Garden at a concert by the Simeon Singers.

Pairs (SATB + piano)
Frankly, this is quite tricky and silly. Very silly. The pianist may need to ignore the RH octaves at times. Or take steroids.

Counting Sheep
Very good fun and not hard to learn. You can change the rude word on the penultimate page if you need to. I suggest "blighter" might suffice...

The Beck

The beginning of the first movement of an incomplete string quartet. I never got around to finishing this, but it's quite pleasant... Inspired by the beck which runs outside our house.




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Pairs

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PAIRS

Ladies and gentlemen

Pollen and bees
Batman and Robin
Crackers and cheese

Bed and breakfast
Horse and cart
Tea and cake
Jam and tart

Salt and pepper
East and west
Smash and grab
String and vest

The Queen's Speech and Christmas Day
Ringing a doorbell and running away
Chimpanzees and PG Tips
Battered cod and greasy chips

Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh
Bangers and mash
Me and you.

Autumn by the Lake

Written in 2003 I think, shortly after moving to Ampleforth, so it seems worth posting this a week before we move out of the area. It was a reflection on thoughts and images which came to me whilst walking around the lakes in Gilling woods.


Autumn By The Lake


Rusty leaves waiting to fall
Rustle at the slightest breeze.
Dead wood lies upon the ground,
Branches creak like old men’s knees.

I lie beside the water’s edge
And watch the clouds go by a while,
Then on my back watch upside down
And daydream stuff that makes me smile.

The lake lies still, you cannot tell
Which image is water, which is dry -
Except when, upside down, a duck
Appears to swim through trees and sky.

And on the ground as leaves decay
Wet, sweet smells inform my thinking:
Amid this rot is teeming life,
Unseen, yet vibrant – though dying and stinking.

So then I walk home through cold, damp air
Carrying a little of this smell in my mind,
Enough, at least, to remind me how life
May emerge from the things I thought I’d left behind:

Parts of my life that I’ve lost on the way;
People I knew but don’t see any more;
Forgotten dreams and unachieved plans;
Times of my life to which I’ve closed the door.

Life builds afresh upon what’s been and gone
So the old me is dead – but the new me lives on.



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Revival

Revival Came


Revival came:
Not in a cascade of noise and praise
But quietly, unseen, uncelebrated.
It came, heralded not by Alleluias
But by tears and sighs.


Revival came:
Not in tongues of flame
Or dramatic outpourings,
But in shared silence, tear-stained vigils;
In listening, rather than explaining.


Revival came:
Not through feeling holier
Nor suddenly being on Cloud Nine,
But in being known, accepted
Warts and all, even in despair.


And revival came:
Not in a noisy battle or struggle,
Nor through a sudden mass-revelation
Of deep things suddenly understood;
Revival came heart by heart, one by one.


Revival came
As Love stared into the darkness,
Stood and wept into another's wounds
And washed as it wept
And healed and cleaned and comforted.

And revived.

Grimston, June 28th 2009


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Prayer of St Hild

I wrote this anthem for the Simeon Singers, based in Oswaldkirk in North Yorkshire. The text is a prayer attributed to St. Hilda (or Hild) who was abbess of Whitby and a significant figure in the history of Christianity in England.

Now, this is where we find out whether I can embedd audio into this blog... hmmm... let's have a go...


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Ah, that seemed to work. I love the simplicity of the words - a conversation between Hild and God, really, rather than a traditionally formatted prayer. The concept of the servant ministry is particularly telling coming from Hilda as she was of royal birth herself and was the head of a double monastery in Whitby. The ending "My times are in Thy hands" serve as the subtitle for the piece.

Introduction

This is intended simply as somewhere to store and share my various creative things. I'm going to root around to find some things to post, and comments and feedback are most welcome.

All creative material put on here is posted under a Creative Commons agreement. This means you are free to use material here, but all works must be attribited to me as the author, composer or arranger and you may not make commercial use of it without permission.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.