Songs for Emmy

Composer's Note:

When our daughter Lauren Emmy turned seven I thought a nice birthday present might be to compose a cycle of songs for her. So, I set to music seven charming poems and tied them up with a birthday ribbon. Somewhere along the way, however, I realized that my present was not one that my seven year old was going to be particularly thrilled to receive; rather it was a gift that I wanted to give, just for myself. As the years passed, the songs would help me remember my little Emmy better than any photograph ever could.

I chose many of the poems for their anecdotal similarity to my experiences with my daughter. "Hurry up, Come on!" perfectly captures the spirit of our favorite afternoon routine – stopping in at the local sweet shop on the way home from Emmy’s primary school in London. Emily Dickinson asks "Will there really be a Morning?" Similarly, Emmy once offered that if she didn't go to sleep “right now morning might never come”. And, tell me, what seven year old child has never tried to trick an adult with the "guess how old I am" quiz Roger McGough relates in “Easy Money”? Other poems simply celebrate the expressions of love that parents offer their young children in unguarded and sometimes silly moments.

How satisfying it would be should our children tell these poems to their children, and the once simple and silly expressions of our parental love become as profound and moving to them as they were to us.