Mr Lear

Mr Lear (2002)
An entertainment for SATB, childrens’ choir (optional), narrator (optional), brass quintet or piano. Duration c. 25 minutes.
Mr Lear is an entertainment based on the life of Edward Lear using many of his poems and limericks, known and not so well-known. Re-discover the magical world of Edward Lear: the table and chair who learned to walk, the melancholy reminiscences of Uncle Arly, the Sunday outing of the Broom, Shovel, Poker and Tongs, the tale of the broken-hearted Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò, and the courtship of the Owl and the Pussycat, all linked together by narrations and limericks.
Mr Lear was commissioned jointly by the Kemsing Singers (conductor Chris Knox-Johnston), the Sawtry Chorale (conductor Peter Davies) and the South Chiltern Choral Society (conductor Gwyn Arch) and has since been programmed by many other choirs including the Vasari Singers, the Wooburn Singers, the Bach Choir and the children of the London Tri-Borough Hub (director David Hill) and the 200-strong Salisbury Community Choir!

Link to scrolling score here: see and hear the music

To buy the vocal score (with piano accompaniment):
Digital downloads (instant pdfs) worldwide, from Sheet Music Direct, or Sheet Music Plus (prices vary)
Printed copies (please allow tome for printing and delivery) by contacting Colne Edition (£9.95 post free in UK but postage extra elsewhere, 5 copies minimum)
Printed copies, and also brass full score and parts, are also available on hire from Colne Edition.

The following separate movements are also available:
The Table and the Chair
The Owl and the Pussycat
Broom, Shovel, Poker, and Tongs
Three Nonsense Songs (the three above as one set)