Photo of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience

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Released: May 16, 2009
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General Info

  • Genre: Acoustic / Lyrical / Other

    Location Stroud, Southwest, UK

    Profile Views: 9295

    Last Login: 6/29/2011

    Member Since 12/27/2007

    Record Label J & E Records

    Type of Label Indie

  • Bio

    Jeff Gillett writes: I first began setting Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' to music as a way of making them easier for my sixth-form English students to remember in a closed-book examination. At that time, I had no intention of writing a tune for every poem in the collection, but the more I worked on it, the more enthusiastic I became, both for the project and for the poems themselves. The aim was to write tunes which would be memorable in their own right, but which would enable the poems to speak for themselves. The music had to enhance the mood of the song and ensure that the accentuation demanded by the irregularity of Blake's metre could always be accommodated. I have performed many of the songs solo, with and without accompaniment, at folk clubs and festivals. For a fuller presentation, I wanted more instrumentation, coupled with projections of Blake's original illustrations. For the first performance, I enlisted the help of Elaine Gillett, Alison Gregory and Cathy Brown. This provided us with three voices and accompaniment on guitar, violin, cello, keyboard, whistle and mandolin. Martin Fry did the projections, supplementing Blake's images with his own photography. The first performance, consisting of 33 of the 45 poems, took place in The Space, Lansdown Road, as part of the Stroud Arts Festival. The first performance of the entire collection took place at Marling School Sixth-Form and Stroud High School Sixth-Form Lecture Theatre in Autumn 2009. The Complete collection is available on double CD. Visit www.blakesongsettings.co.uk for further details.
  • Members

    Jeff Gillett (guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, concertina, bass, ladder, vocals); Elaine Gillett (vocals); Alison Gregory (cello, keyboard, whistle, vocals); Cathy Brown (violin, mandolin); Alex West (flute, vocals); Colin Sillence (guitar, mandolin, vocals).
  • Influences

    William Blake, traditional folk, Martin Simpson, June Tabor, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, King Crimson, The Incredible String Band, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Paul Kossoff, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill; others too numerous to mention.
  • Sounds Like

    The tunes that Blake's poems have been waiting for for 200 years.

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  • 2 years ago
  • Megan J. Salomon


    Hello,How are you ?

    2 years ago
  • Megan J. Salomon


    Hello,thanks add!

    2 years ago
  • Sasha Eleyce

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic

    Hope you have a few minutes to come on in and listen to my music.
    I t's great to have you as a friend. I hope you enjoy my music.
    Reach Out and love somebody.
    Much love, Sasha

    2 years ago
  • David Franks: Walkabout…

    After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on MySpace...

    Poem cum song 5 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (see my Blog for details):
    STATE TO STATE

    (TUNE:

    C F G F
    C F G F
    C F G F
    C F G F
    F G F C
    F G F C
    F G F C
    C F F F)

    From Sydney Town,
        In uni. break,
    I drove out west
        To earnings make
    Onion picking,
        On the fields
    Of Echuca,
        That year’s yields.

    After day’s work,
        From Y.H.A.,
    A group of us
        Would not delay
    To walk on down
        To the dirt rim
    Of the Murray,
        For a cool swim.

    On one such day,
        I do declare,
    Some three of us
        Had a big dare
    To swim across,
        From state to state,
    The wide Murray -
        I took the bait.

    Yes, foolishly,
        I took the bait -
    A choice that I
        Would come to hate,
    For I almost
        Did drown that date,
    Making the swim
        From state to state.

    (C) David Franks 2003

    2 years ago
  • Giles Winterton


    Hi William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, thanks for being a friend.




    3 years ago
  • David Franks: Walkabout…

    After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem, & some songs, on myspace...
    Poem 187 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse
    (see my blog for details):  
    A SOUTH SHIELDS WALKABOUT - AUTUMN 2001 

    Out of the museum-and-gallery 
    (Wiser on Cookson and the local way), 
    Down Ocean Road with, to the right of me, 
    Its eateries and, left, neat places to stay; 
    Before, on either side, Marine Parks - 
    The southern-one a most beautiful place, 
    Teeming with moorhens, swans, grebes and mallards 
    In a small lake at a scenic-hill’s base. 

    Then (holding chips from the parade’s cafe 
    And, thus, a flock of gulls squawking above) 
    Onto the South Pier I made my way: 
    Seeing seaweed over rocks - like a glove - 
    And high-and-dry sands held from transgression 
    By growth of grass and the weaving of wood, 
    Plus, in the dim light of a sleepy sun, 
    Fishing boats returning to Tynemouth’s hood. 

    (C) David Franks 2003

    3 years ago
  • Nabeel Issa


    And His name shall be called
    Wonderful,
    Counsellor,
    The Mighty God,
    The everlasting Father,
    The Prince of Peace
    (Isaiah 9:6)

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic

    Pixages
    Pixages

    May peace, joy and blessings of Christmas
    Bring a message of hope and good cheer
    And be a happy reminder that Jesus
    Is with you throughout the new year.
    Nabeel

    3 years ago
  • Zimbalam Zimbalam

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    Visit www.zimbalam.com to sign up for a free account.

    3 years ago
  • Nabeel Issa, Accordioni…


    Marhaba is an Arabic word used in the Middle East as a greeting (in English Hello).
    The origin of the word comes from Aramaic, the old Syrian language of Jesus Christ.
    It is a combination of two words: MAR + HABA
    MAR, meaning God, Lord or Master.
    HABA, meaning Love.
    So, Marhaba means "God is Love".

    The following is the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, recited by Majida El-Roumi:

    Marhaba my friends
    May you celebrate the love of God deep within your heart as Jesus brings new meaning to life... Joy, Hope, Peace... because His love is eternal.
    May His eternal love shine upon you always!
    Nabeel

    3 years ago
10 of 25More

Bio:

Jeff Gillett writes: I first began setting Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' to music as a way of making them easier for my sixth-form English students to remember in a closed-book examination. At that time, I had no intention of writing a tune for every poem in the collection, but the more I worked on it, the more enthusiastic I became, both for the project and for the poems themselves. The aim was to write tunes which would be memorable in their own right, but which would enable the poems to speak for themselves. The music had to enhance the mood of the song and ensure that the accentuation demanded by the irregularity of Blake's metre could always be accommodated. I have performed many of the songs solo, with and without accompaniment, at folk clubs and festivals. For a fuller presentation, I wanted more instrumentation, coupled with projections of Blake's original illustrations. For the first performance, I enlisted the help of Elaine Gillett, Alison Gregory and Cathy Brown. This provided us with three voices and accompaniment on guitar, violin, cello, keyboard, whistle and mandolin. Martin Fry did the projections, supplementing Blake's images with his own photography. The first performance, consisting of 33 of the 45 poems, took place in The Space, Lansdown Road, as part of the Stroud Arts Festival. The first performance of the entire collection took place at Marling School Sixth-Form and Stroud High School Sixth-Form Lecture Theatre in Autumn 2009. The Complete collection is available on double CD. Visit www.blakesongsettings.co.uk for further details.

Member Since:

December 27, 2007

Members:

Jeff Gillett (guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, concertina, bass, ladder, vocals); Elaine Gillett (vocals); Alison Gregory (cello, keyboard, whistle, vocals); Cathy Brown (violin, mandolin); Alex West (flute, vocals); Colin Sillence (guitar, mandolin, vocals).

Influences:

William Blake, traditional folk, Martin Simpson, June Tabor, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, King Crimson, The Incredible String Band, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Paul Kossoff, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill; others too numerous to mention.

Sounds Like:

The tunes that Blake's poems have been waiting for for 200 years.

Record Label:

J & E Records

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