Composed in the summer of 2022, this song cycle was written as part of an outreach project with 300 children from 5 Primary Schools in East Oxford. In writing this, I was keenly aware that many children had gone years in the pandemic without singing at all at school, and so the theme of the whole collection is one of community, and that music is for all of us to enjoy to whatever extent that we wish; the fire burns in us all.

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The songs have memorable tunes and different characters to explore. A workbook accompanies the project, providing the opportunity for children to consider the social issues that are brought up by the songs: 

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1. Introduction

This song makes the case for the importance of music, explaining that in the next four songs, the audience (parents!) will hear their children exploring different people. People make mistakes, but we can help each other through them. 

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2. I Can't Sing!

Many people express this so frequently in our society. Isn't it bizarre?! There's of course a distinction to be drawn between professional singers and others, but pretty much everybody can sing and it's such a natural thing to do. In this song, children ('Fuoco') express their fear vehemently whilst others ('Amoroso') placate them with the idea of 'just having a go'. The two groups end up singing together and, sigificantly, take joy in this!

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3. My Music's Better!

So many children and adults alike are fixed in their listening habits that they show little interest in engaging with the music of others. Quoting material from the likes of Ed Sheeran, The White Stripes, Mozart and Haydn, one group of children ('Fuoco', again) asserts their stance of superiority, whilst 'Amoroso' encourage the mantra of keeping an open mind. It turns out that the music that is best, according to 'Fuoco', is Crazy Shark (!) and they jam in three-parts, before 'Amoroso' gives us the central moral of offering opinions with kindness..

 

4. 'Practice Makes Perfect'

The title of this is a mantra that many pupils are subject to, though it is realised in a number of different ways. One character ('Fuoco') is a show-off musician who maintains a status of excellence by putting down others and using the mantra against them. Another, ('Furioso') who does not yet feel musically capable, complains about how easy 'Fuoco' seems to find music, and therefore why bother trying? Finally, the children collectively offer a virtue in practising as a means of valuing music itself, and aiming high for ourselves!

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5. We're Musical People

The message of this song is supposed to be collective for the audience as much as it is to state that the children singing the song are musical (and, bringing the cycle together, remembering that each of the characters that we have encountered is, in their own way, musical as well). It's a call to arms amongst children to hold the torch for being musical.

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