Charles Causley at the Bath Abbey Carol Concert

Packed to the brim every year, the Bath Abbey Carol Concert is at the top of many a Bath Spa University student composer’s Christmas to-do list. This year, Bath Spa student Frances Key was lucky enough to have her composition picked to be sung at this exciting event, and for this, she says, “I owe my thanks to Charles Causley”.

When Frances and her fellow composition students were given the opportunity to compose a carol for their choir, Frances recalls, “I wanted to borrow the words of someone far more skilled in the art of poetry than I am. My Dad introduced me to Causley’s ‘Mother and Child’ poem and almost instantly I knew it was exactly the kind of poem I wanted to put music to for a choir to sing. I started work on it straight away and during tutorials, my teachers commented a lot on the good choice of poetry.”

Bath Abbey was the perfect setting to hear the performance, Frances says: “the acoustics made the choir sound very mystical and beautiful. From the compliments that Bath Spa Music received, it appears that the whole evening went down a storm, and I hope Charles would have approved of his involvement with such a special festive event; it is certain that everybody went out into the cold with a warm Christmas feeling!”

A happy Christmas and a very peaceful New Year from The Charles Causley Trust to all our readers .

Natalie Merchant sings Charles Causley

Here at the causleyblog we are incredibly excited to learn that Natalie Merchant is to release a new album in 2010 which features a song adapted from a poem by Charles Causley.

For the past five years Natalie Merchant has been researching, writing and recording a collection of songs adapted from the works of various classic and contemporary poets, including Charles Causley, Robert Graves and Gerard Manley Hopkins. The album, entitled Leave Your Sleep and due for release in Spring 2010, will be Merchant’s first new studio recording in seven years and her first for Nonesuch Records.

Visit her website here.

Help us to preserve Charles Causley’s House

A new leaflet outlining The Charles Causley Trust’s work to safeguard Charles Causley’s House is live on their website today. The leaflet describes the Trust’s plans for the house, with photographs from inside No 2. Cyprus Well and a short biography of Charles Causley.

The Charles Causley Trust will shortly begin repair work to the exterior envelope of the property, but still face a major fundraising challenge to realise their dream to restore the house fully and maintain it for future generations.

If you can support us, please get in touch.

The leaflet can be also be downloaded here (It needs Acrobat Reader 8 or 9) and it is 477k.

Charles Causley’s “Images of Launceston”

Join The Charles Causley Trust for an evening of readings, awards and an update on the panoramic photography of Causley’s Launceston by Karol Kwiatek of The University of Plymouth. Prizes for the 2009 Causley Poetry Competition will be presented by The Revd. Dr. J. May, Rector of St. Endellion.

The event takes place at The Eagle House Hotel, Launceston, on Thursday 22nd October 2009, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £7.50, to include admission and refreshments, and are available from The Bookshop, Launceston, telephone 01566 774107.

The evening is presented by The Charles Causley Trust, registered charity 1102459, and The Charles Causley Society.

Jim Causley & National Poetry Day

Jim Causley will be appearing at an Apples & Snakes and Exeter Central Library National Poetry Day event at Exeter Central Library on Thursday 8 October at 7.30pm, alongside Aoife Mannix and Janie Armour.

Since being asked to perform at the annual Trusham Charles Causley Festival, Jim has set over twenty of Charles Causley’s poems to music, using tunes suggested by Charles where possible, employing traditional tunes that sit comfortably with the poem and composing many of his own. Jim sings both unaccompanied and with accordion.

Tickets will be going on sale from Exeter Central Library on Monday 21st September, priced £5/3 concessions, but there are only 100, so be quick!

Charles Causley and Siegfried Sassoon

Make sure to visit the fascinating War Poetry Blog written by Professor Tim Kendall of The University of Exeter, and especially if you are interested in the considerable correspondence between Charles Causley and  Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon’s letters to Causley are kept in Special Collections at the University of Exeter.

Professor Kendall writes:

“Causley did a great deal to promote a poet who, in old age, felt himself to have been forgotten except as ‘the man who knew Wilfred’ … These letters to Causley have never been published, or until now, seen by scholars. I would be keen to hear from anyone who knows the whereabouts of the the other side of the correspondence: the letters from Causley to Sassoon.”

The Edwin Morgan Archive

We’re big fans of Edwin Morgan here at the causleyblog, and thoroughly recommend you take a look at a fantastic new resource at the Scottish Poetry Library. The Edwin Morgan Archive is an extraordinary site, and very much something that we aspire towards for the poetry of Charles Causley. It features a superb gallery, biography, poems and resources. We also think the design and layout is incredibly striking and powerful. All in all, it’s one of our favourite poetry places on the web. If you’ve got a moment, click here to dive right in.

Stretterworra gawl, gawl…

Inside Charles Causley’s House

In the first of an occasional series of images from inside Charles Causley’s House, you’re looking now at the conservatory. It’s one of the most evocative places in the house, Charles used to sit in the chair there on fine days, but it’s also one of the areas most in need of repair at the moment. Outside, crazy paving and a garden bench create a place of private, tranquil beauty and when the sun is high the conservatory is filled with brightness and warmth.

Mawkin:Causley & ‘I am the song’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mawkin:Causley’s stunning new album ‘The Awkward Recruit’ features a simply brilliant imagining of Charles Causley’s poem ‘I am the song’. The poem is a particular favourite here at thecausleyblog, and indeed we used to have a line from the poem as part of the banner on the old Cyprus Well Stories blog.

Jim Causley, the band’s charismatic frontman, says in the liner notes:

“One of my favourite of Uncle Charlie’s poems set to a tune I never intended to be a song tune but Mawkin insist it works, and I must admit I do love a bit of 5/4!”

The band is playing at the upcoming Sidmouth Folk Week and if you get a chance, you should definitely go see them. Mawkin:Causley also has a new website, and we have the link there to your left on the blogroll.

You’ll see Mawkin:Causley described as a folk boy band, but only with tongue in cheek because they’re so much more than that. We’re biased, obviously, but think that ‘The Awkward Recruit’ is amazing stuff: hotly played, passionately sung, wildly musical and fiercely intelligent.

Uncut  *****

The Guardian ****

The Telegraph ****

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mawkin:Causley talk about the new album.

The Scottish Poetry Library: Our friends in the north!

 

 

 

Drop along the blog of The Scottish Poetry Library when you get a chance, in particular this entry about Charles Causley. 

The Charles Causley Trust was there on other business, but delighted to get the chance to talk about Charles Causley and hear how popular and important a poet he is considered to be up in Scotland.

Visit the Scottish Poetry Library website here.