O Love

Posted by sara-garrard

Speaking of #CatherineWinkworthSongbook, I don’t seem to have put this one up on the blog, so I better, to add it to the list:

O LOVE WHO MADE ME

O Love, who made me for to wear
The image of Thy Godhead here;
Who sought me out with tender care
Through all my wand’rings wild and drear–
O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be

O Love, who ere life’s earliest dawn
On me Thy choice hast gently laid;
O Love, who here as man wast born,
And like to us in all things made–
O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be.

O Love, who once in Time wast slain,
Pierced through and through with bitter woe;
O Love, who, wrestling thus didst gain
That we eternal joy might know–
O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be.

O Love, in whom is truth and light,
And Word and Spirit, life and power,        
Whose heart was bared to them that smite,
  To shield us in our trial hour;
O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be.

O Love, who thus hast bound me fast
Beneath that easy/gentle yoke of Thine;
Love, who hast conquered me at last,
And rapt away this heart of mine–
O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be.

Angelus Silesius (1657), English translation by Catherine Winkworth (slightly adapted)

‘A Broken World’ piano and orchestra arrangements

Posted by sara-garrard

Hiii so I seem to have posted a bunch of stuff on youtube that I haven’t updated here! For the sake of completeness and because these are quite nice….

‘Return to the Planet’ and ‘A Broken World’ are tracks from the Final Fantasy VII Remake soundtrack by Masashi Hamauzu that are original to that score – and, as you might be able to guess from the titles, really emotionally charged.

I did a fairly faithful piano arrangement:

And a really reimagined/new genre’d orchestral/soundtrack one:

FFVII R OST demake: Collapsed Expressway

Posted by sara-garrard

Another Final Fantasy VII Remake track done in the (broad) style of the original FFVII game. Actually this piece is really such a long way from the original style/genres and I didn’t completely rewrite it to make it fit, but I tweaked a few things and of course used the soundfont, so it sounds kinda like the original. And it sounds cool!

Also a little while ago I did the same with Avalanche’s Theme:

(Which I think actually sounds pretty reasonable as a FFVII era track.)

Cute music for dogs….

Posted by sara-garrard

There’s an amazing genre of videos on youtube, which is adorable dog grooming videos……. such as those by SHU AND TREE – I am hooked.

And there seems to be an associated broad ‘genre’ of really cute music….. I tried writing some. And added some freely available videos of dogs.

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my songs are all for her

Posted by sara-garrard

For Her

my songs are all for her whose love I fain would win:
each to her heart a wanderer goes singing, let me in.

her eyes my beacons be, her lips my rosy guides,
and in her heart a melody for every word abides.

be brave, be brave, my song, nor falter in the quest:
love in her heart has waited long to greet the singing guest.

and be it yours to know the latch lift on the door;
once in her heart — go, lyric, go be hers, for evermore

‘For Her’ by Frank Dempster Sherman.

a winter rose

Posted by sara-garrard

A SONG’S ECHO

My Love is like a Winter rose
That sweetly blooms alone,
That has of rivals none, and knows
A beauty all her own.

My Love is like a tender tune
That wakens tender words,
And fills December full of June,
And brings again the birds.

Her smile, my sun; her voice, my song;
Her face, my flower of bliss;
Oh, who could find the Winter long
With such a Love as this!

‘A Song’s Echo’ by Frank Dempster Sherman