Amongst some family photos, last weekend I spotted my father's printed copy of the words of a hymn used at my parents' wedding. It notes that he had written a tune for it for the occasion (I had known about this) called "Burnt Roof" (in acknowledgment that the ceremony was taking place in the roofless St Laurence's, Foleshill, in the October of 1941 - which was after it had lost its roof to a WW2 firebomb). My father had mentioned this tune occasionally, but we'd never had a copy. He was musical, but never seemed to use conventional music notation, so it was doubtful that it could have survived in hard copy; he died in 1980, and I don't think he really remembered the tune even in the 1970s. The document also noted that the organist, with the unusual surname GAZEY had written a descant.
I couldn't resist the temptation, and started playing around with BMD and census records on Ancestry - mainly BMD, of course. The combinations of initials and surname were sufficiently rare - coupled with the midlands location - to enable me to construct a plausible tree, down to quite recent names. I did some googling, and realised that I was in a position to contact his niece, and then another site had a PM system that would allow me to contact someone who must be his daughter.
I sent messages to both, explaining my quest, and that I was hoping that a musician - and subsequently his family - would have retained something in which he had had such a personal stake (writing the descant). In which case, please could I have a copy? The niece was kind enough to reply and give me direct-contact info for his daughter. There had been family issues which complicated the picture, but his daughter was kind enough to reply, too. Sadly, she had very little of her father's effects, and thought that his music portfolio had probably been lost.
Then I had a fresh message this afternoon from his daughter...
And she added a chunk of info from the document she'd found which makes it very clear that this is, at least, the descant for the relevant hymn.
Needless to say, I replied with all my contact info as soon as I spotted her incoming email. Now I have to wait and see what comes! She has been kind and generous enough to give up her time to have a look through her father's papers for me, and is offering to make a copy of what I'm after and post it to me. How can I stay patient?!
Christine
I couldn't resist the temptation, and started playing around with BMD and census records on Ancestry - mainly BMD, of course. The combinations of initials and surname were sufficiently rare - coupled with the midlands location - to enable me to construct a plausible tree, down to quite recent names. I did some googling, and realised that I was in a position to contact his niece, and then another site had a PM system that would allow me to contact someone who must be his daughter.
I sent messages to both, explaining my quest, and that I was hoping that a musician - and subsequently his family - would have retained something in which he had had such a personal stake (writing the descant). In which case, please could I have a copy? The niece was kind enough to reply and give me direct-contact info for his daughter. There had been family issues which complicated the picture, but his daughter was kind enough to reply, too. Sadly, she had very little of her father's effects, and thought that his music portfolio had probably been lost.
Then I had a fresh message this afternoon from his daughter...
<... snip ...> Point is I had a brainwave concerning some essays I still have of my father's, and tucked in with them is a small music book. I have definitely found a reference to the hymn you are seeking, and the accompanying small piece of music might be the descant. Give me your postal address and I'll forward a photocopy. I'm not that clever at scanning.
Needless to say, I replied with all my contact info as soon as I spotted her incoming email. Now I have to wait and see what comes! She has been kind and generous enough to give up her time to have a look through her father's papers for me, and is offering to make a copy of what I'm after and post it to me. How can I stay patient?!
Christine
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