Have you ever wondered what it would be like to commission a new piece of music? In this guest blog post, singer Ruth Carlyle describes her experience of working with Tim Knight Music to commission two new song settings of poems by L. M. Montgomery.
Most readers associate the Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery with her novels, particularly 'Anne of Green Gables'. She published a wide variety of short stories, novels for adults and over 500 poems, but these are less well known. November 30ᵗʰ 2024 is the 150ᵗʰ anniversary of Montgomery's birth and as part of the commemorations my husband (Nicholas Carlyle) and I wanted to commission solo song settings of some of Montgomery's poems that I could perform and record.
I had sung some of Tim's songs previously and enjoyed the focus he brings to the words within texts, such as his setting of 'A Widow Bird'. We approached Tim Knight with two suggested poems by Montgomery: 'In An Old Town Garden' and 'A Request'. These poems form part of a 1916 collection and are therefore out of copyright in the USA/Canada as well as the UK. I selected them as representative of different aspects of Montgomery's writing. 'In An Old Town Garden' reflects her love of gardens and sense of nature as a place of respite. The text of 'A Request' is lighter and more free-flowing, but the subject matter has a darker undertone as it is about the location where the narrator chooses to be buried.
Cover pictures for the two songs, painted by Ruth's husband, Nic Carlyle
Tim responded promptly to our approach to commission settings of the poems. He started work very quickly on 'A Request' and, although I had not explicitly mentioned Montgomery's pride in her Scottish heritage, picked up the Scottish lilt in her phrasing. Both song settings were drafted well ahead of time and in both cases, Tim made changes at my request before finalising the compositions.
This project is a tribute to L. M. Montgomery, not a commercial venture, and commissioning new music to mark a special occasion may not be as expensive as you think. In addition to the two song settings by Tim Knight, we commissioned two by David Barton to form a set.
Cover picture for the album painted by Nic Carlyle and designed by Clementine Barton
I sang the four songs with David Barton at the Summerfield Recording Studio. The four songs are available as 'The Old Home Calls: song settings of poems by L. M. Montgomery'. You can find them on major music platforms, but also for free listening on YouTube and Soundcloud and also on Distrokid via this link. We hope that you will enjoy the songs.
If you are interested in the works of L. M. Montgomery in her 150ᵗʰ year, do follow #Maud150 on social media.
Photographs for the project by Clementine Barton, reflecting
Montgomery’s love of the natural world
If you would like to find out more about how to commission Tim and his rates, follow this link, https://www.timknightmusic.com/commission-tim
We are very grateful to Ruth for taking the time to write this guest blog for us. If you would like to write a guest blog for us, we would love to hear from you! Please email us at mail@timknightmusic.com
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