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The Music of Robert Louis Stevenson
British Grenadiers
By J.F.M. Russell ©2019
Robert Louis Stevenson began studying the piano and composition at age 36 and learned the penny whistle two years later. He played the flageolet, a version of the whistle equipped with keys, almost until the end of his life. His arrangements and compositions include more than 120 pieces. This site describes his complete works through facsimiles, transcriptions, recordings, quotations and commentary.
"An interesting chapter in his life will be written when all his scattered pieces are brought together, and the musical side of his character unexpectedly revealed to the vast public that knows him now only as the winsome versifier and the accomplished romancer."
Robert Murrell Stevenson in Robert Louis Stevenson's Musical Interests, 1957.
Facsimile:
Transcription:
Recording:
Manuscript Location:
Princeton University Library
Morris L. Parrish Collection
Box/Series/Folder/Thesis #: Bd MSS 113, 114
Code/Call Number #: C0171 1B
Source:
Heart Songs. Boston: Chapple, 1909:
Significant References in Works of R.L.S.:
Comments:
Stevenson's version is exactly the same as the source, but transposed to the key of C major.