This page summarises the completion statuses of all the songs in the project. You can purchase individual songs or whole songbooks by clicking on the shopping cart icons in the list below. Read a short explanation of my pricing if you wish. Click on the cart icon at the top-right of the window to review your order.

Printed Music Books

The goal of the project is to finish all eighteen songbooks before July 2018. The songs are organised into songbooks because printed music becomes unwieldy when there are more than about 50 pages in the book. You can opt to compile your own bespoke songbooks out of any combination of the available songs, but this is more expensive than the standard books which are printed in batches. Customers who purchase physical books are free to also download PDF versions of the same.

Electronic PDF Scores

If you are content with electronic PDF files of the songs or music books, the price is less (no physical printing and binding, and no shipping). These are advantages, but it's nice to have a real songbook too. If you purchase a PDF score, it is permissible to print a single copy, but only one! Every additional copy is theft and costs me hard-earned means to live. If I found out these files were being distributed, I would not hesitate to take legal action.

Score-Reading App

I am working on a mobile app which scrolls the music as it is played. This would be ideal since the current measure or two could fill the screen, finally making smartphones viable devices for reading music while playing it. You can probably imagine that this is a tricky app to engineer, since it needs to analyse live audio, matching it with the musical score in real time. However, the benefits are considerable: not only the convenience; but also the pedagogical potential, since the score can be highlighted dynamically in response to what is played, or as a warning at places where problems have occurred in prior renditions. I have made some good progress on this, and intend to release the first version in April or May (2020). Customers who have bought music in another format will be free to download the same music in the reader's format, whatever it may be (perhaps the PDF scores).

General Information

The songs are shaded darker grey to the extent that they are final and neatly scored. Songs which are listed in grey may be available, but will probably be updated in the near future. Eventually all the songs will be black and have pristine scores. Meanwhile, any scores which are improved will be emailed to you, unless you declined this feature when you registered. If you declined it, you can sign in here and freely download updates of scores you purchased previously.

Songs can be bought individually, either as separate PDF downloads, or as bespoke songbooks (PDF or print-on-demand). Black songs will have neater scores; anything above the lightest grey is ‘legible’. The prices are reduced a lot for messier drafts, and since you are entitled to free updates, and all the songs will have pristine drafts by [2020?], it's a good opportunity for a discount. :) You will be given the option to combine individual songs into one or more songbooks when reviewing your order.

Volumes in which all songs are available can be purchased, but they will be print-on-demand unless every song in the volume is finished and fair-copied (volume label is black). Print-on-demand songbooks cost a bit more and take longer to ship. The electronic PDF format is probably wiser in these cases, because in the near future the scores are going to be recopied and the music perhaps improved.

There is a 20% discount on the volumes (including PDF format). In fact as in introductory offer if you purchase 50 pages or more of music in one order, the 20% discount applies, whatever the songs. Buying volumes (either standard or customer-compiled) instead of a bunch of individual songs also avoids blank pages. If you printed each song individually, songs with an odd number of pages would leave one side of one sheet blank. Also, each song would come ensconced in its own cover with Foreword; and the Commentary (endnotes) would follow each song, instead of being collected together at the end of the volume. All of this is true both of print and digital formats.

If a targeted donation is made towards a specific volume still in preparation, browsing credits will be concentrated on this volume of interest. Targeted donations still entitle you to browse the other volumes to the extents summarised here, so targeted contributions earn you some extra browsing power for the same investment. Bear in mind that all donations count as credit toward subsequent purchases, so it is wise to donate first, to open up territory in the score browser.

Most of Brontë‘s poems are untitled, so first lines are used as titles. Spelling and punctuation are authorial. Roper numbers refer to Derek Roper The Poems of Emily Brontë, Oxford, 1995, which is the definitive scholarly reference for the poems. Other complete editions, more affordable though less satisfactory than Roper, include Gezari (1992), and Hatfield (1941 and reprints).

If using the score browser application, please note that some scores in volumes not yet printed are drafts, and the notesetting you see there is beneath the quality of the finished volumes. The grey coding basically corresponds to the neatness of the best current draft, with darker meaning neater. These are going to be getting darker fast in the next couple months, as the songwriting winds down and I focus on fair copies. Refer to the official sample pages for exemplars of the target quality of the finished songbooks.

The updates page shows which scores have had more work (and a fairer copy). There have been no updates yet, unless you count erasure of expletives...

You may like to navigate by thumbnails—every page of the Ballads, all on one web page.

VolumeRoperPricePagesFirst Line
Vol. 1R.002 add R.002 to cartadd R.002 to carttarget donation toward R.002see R.002 poemHigh waveing heather 'neath stormy blasts bending
R.021 add R.021 to cartadd R.021 to carttarget donation toward R.021see R.021 poemFall leaves fall die flowers away
R.197 add R.197 to cartadd R.197 to carttarget donation toward R.197see R.197 poemI heard it then you heard it too
R.030 add R.030 to cartadd R.030 to carttarget donation toward R.030see R.030 poem'Twas one of those dark cloudy days
R.078 add R.078 to cartadd R.078 to carttarget donation toward R.078see R.078 poemTis moon light summer moonlight
R.164 add R.164 to cartadd R.164 to carttarget donation toward R.164see R.164 poemHow golden bright from earth and heaven
R.009 add R.009 to cartadd R.009 to carttarget donation toward R.009see R.009 poemAlone I sat    the summer day
Vol. 2R.050 add R.050 to cartadd R.050 to carttarget donation toward R.050see R.050 poemMay Flowers are opening
R.189 add R.189 to cartadd R.189 to carttarget donation toward R.189see R.189 poemThat dreary lake that midnight sky
R.143 target donation toward R.143see R.143 poemI'll come when thou art sadest
R.170v1 add R.170v1 to cartadd R.170v1 to carttarget donation toward R.170v1see R.170v1 poemWind sink to rest in the heather
R.170v2 add R.170v2 to cartadd R.170v2 to carttarget donation toward R.170v2see R.170v2 poemWind sink to rest in the heather
R.200 add R.200 to cartadd R.200 to carttarget donation toward R.200see R.200 poemAll day I've toiled but not with pain
R.015 target donation toward R.015see R.015 poemSleep brings no joy to me
Vol. 3R.019 add R.019 to cartadd R.019 to carttarget donation toward R.019see R.019 poemI die but when the grave shall press
R.142 add R.142 to cartadd R.142 to carttarget donation toward R.142see R.142 poemO Hinder me by no delay
R.187 add R.187 to cartadd R.187 to carttarget donation toward R.187see R.187 poemI'm happiest when most away
R.183 add R.183 to cartadd R.183 to carttarget donation toward R.183see R.183 poemWhen days of Beauty deck the earth
R.169 add R.169 to cartadd R.169 to carttarget donation toward R.169see R.169 poemAnd first an hour of mournful museing
R.083 add R.083 to cartadd R.083 to carttarget donation toward R.083see R.083 poemRiches I hold in light esteem
R.024 add R.024 to cartadd R.024 to carttarget donation toward R.024see R.024 poemWhy do I hate that lone green dell?
Vol. 4R.037 add R.037 to cartadd R.037 to carttarget donation toward R.037see R.037 poemLight up thy halls!    'Tis closing day;
R.054 add R.054 to cartadd R.054 to carttarget donation toward R.054see R.054 poemMonth after month year after year
R.070v1 add R.070v1 to cartadd R.070v1 to carttarget donation toward R.070v1see R.070v1 poemThe wind I used to hear it swelling
R.070v2 add R.070v2 to cartadd R.070v2 to carttarget donation toward R.070v2see R.070v2 poemThe wind I used to hear it swelling
R.022 add R.022 to cartadd R.022 to carttarget donation toward R.022see R.022 poemWeaned from life and torn away
R.140 add R.140 to cartadd R.140 to carttarget donation toward R.140see R.140 poemO evening why is thy light so sad?
R.041 add R.041 to cartadd R.041 to carttarget donation toward R.041see R.041 poemHow still, how happy!    those are words
Vol. 5R.043 add R.043 to cartadd R.043 to carttarget donation toward R.043see R.043 poemThe night was Dark yet winter breathed
R.176 add R.176 to cartadd R.176 to carttarget donation toward R.176see R.176 poemWe wander on we have no rest
R.148 add R.148 to cartadd R.148 to carttarget donation toward R.148see R.148 poemThere are two trees in a lonely feild
R.196 add R.196 to cartadd R.196 to carttarget donation toward R.196see R.196 poemWhat woke it then? a little child
R.135 add R.135 to cartadd R.135 to carttarget donation toward R.135see R.135 poemHere with my knee upon thy stone
R.134 add R.134 to cartadd R.134 to carttarget donation toward R.134see R.134 poemDeep deep down in the silent grave
R.048 add R.048 to cartadd R.048 to carttarget donation toward R.048see R.048 poemSacred whacher, wave thy bells!
Vol. 6R.042 add R.042 to cartadd R.042 to carttarget donation toward R.042see R.042 poemThe bluebell is the sweetest flower
R.161v1 add R.161v1 to cartadd R.161v1 to carttarget donation toward R.161v1see R.161v1 poemI paused on the threshold I turned to the sky
R.161v2 add R.161v2 to cartadd R.161v2 to carttarget donation toward R.161v2see R.161v2 poemI paused on the threshold I turned to the sky
R.166 add R.166 to cartadd R.166 to carttarget donation toward R.166see R.166 poemOnly some spires of bright green grass
R.163 add R.163 to cartadd R.163 to carttarget donation toward R.163see R.163 poemWoods you need not frown on me
R.162 add R.162 to cartadd R.162 to carttarget donation toward R.162see R.162 poemO come with me thus ran the song
R.159 add R.159 to cartadd R.159 to carttarget donation toward R.159see R.159 poemThe inspiring musics thrilling sound
R.057 target donation toward R.057see R.057 poemCome hither child—who gifted thee
Vol. 7R.059 add R.059 to cartadd R.059 to carttarget donation toward R.059see R.059 poemMild the mist upon the hill
R.033v1 add R.033v1 to cartadd R.033v1 to carttarget donation toward R.033v1see R.033v1 poemThe evening sun was sinking down
R.033v2 target donation toward R.033v2see R.033v2 poemThe evening sun was sinking down
R.052 add R.052 to cartadd R.052 to carttarget donation toward R.052see R.052 poemI don't know how it falls on me
R.129 add R.129 to cartadd R.129 to carttarget donation toward R.129see R.129 poemThere should be no dispair for you
R.186 add R.186 to cartadd R.186 to carttarget donation toward R.186see R.186 poemIn dungeons dark I cannot sing
R.079 target donation toward R.079see R.079 poemIn summer's mellow midnight
Vol. 8R.084 target donation toward R.084see R.084 poemShall Earth no more inspire thee,
R.147 add R.147 to cartadd R.147 to carttarget donation toward R.147see R.147 poemLonly at her window sitting
R.154 add R.154 to cartadd R.154 to carttarget donation toward R.154see R.154 poemNone but one beheld him dying
R.027 add R.027 to cartadd R.027 to carttarget donation toward R.027see R.027 poemThis shall be thy lullaby
R.071 add R.071 to cartadd R.071 to carttarget donation toward R.071see R.071 poemHeavens glory shone where he was laid
R.074 add R.074 to cartadd R.074 to carttarget donation toward R.074see R.074 poemIt is too late to call thee now—
R.085 target donation toward R.085see R.085 poemAye there it is! It wakes to night
Vol. 9R.095 add R.095 to cartadd R.095 to carttarget donation toward R.095see R.095 poemHow clear she shines! How quietly
R.133 add R.133 to cartadd R.133 to carttarget donation toward R.133see R.133 poemAlas that she
R.032 add R.032 to cartadd R.032 to carttarget donation toward R.032see R.032 poemFor him who struck thy foreign string
R.038v1 add R.038v1 to cartadd R.038v1 to carttarget donation toward R.038v1see R.038v1 poemO Dream, where art thou now?
R.038v2 add R.038v2 to cartadd R.038v2 to carttarget donation toward R.038v2see R.038v2 poemO Dream, where art thou now?
R.077 add R.077 to cartadd R.077 to carttarget donation toward R.077see R.077 poemIt greif for greif can touch thee
R.091 add R.091 to cartadd R.091 to carttarget donation toward R.091see R.091 poemHad there been falshood in my breast
R.098 add R.098 to cartadd R.098 to carttarget donation toward R.098see R.098 poemIn the earth, the earth thou shalt be laid
Vol. 10R.107 add R.107 to cartadd R.107 to carttarget donation toward R.107see R.107 poemThe linnet in the rocky dells,
R.139 add R.139 to cartadd R.139 to carttarget donation toward R.139see R.139 poemWhat use is it to slumber here
R.145 add R.145 to cartadd R.145 to carttarget donation toward R.145see R.145 poemIt was night and on the mountains
R.149 add R.149 to cartadd R.149 to carttarget donation toward R.149see R.149 poemAnd the wind swept past her hopeless ear
R.150 add R.150 to cartadd R.150 to carttarget donation toward R.150see R.150 poemWhat is that smoke that ever still
R.151 add R.151 to cartadd R.151 to carttarget donation toward R.151see R.151 poemStill as she looked the iron clouds
R.116 target donation toward R.116see R.116 poemCold in the earth and the deep snow piled above thee!
Vol. 11R.124 add R.124 to cartadd R.124 to carttarget donation toward R.124see R.124 poemA messenger of Hope, comes every night to me,
R.152 add R.152 to cartadd R.152 to carttarget donation toward R.152see R.152 poemAway away resign me now
R.153 add R.153 to cartadd R.153 to carttarget donation toward R.153see R.153 poemIt will not shine again
R.158 add R.158 to cartadd R.158 to carttarget donation toward R.158see R.158 poemTell me tell me smileing child
R.160 add R.160 to cartadd R.160 to carttarget donation toward R.160see R.160 poemStrong I stand though I have borne
R.167 add R.167 to cartadd R.167 to carttarget donation toward R.167see R.167 poemThe sun has set and the long grass now
R.125 add R.125 to cartadd R.125 to carttarget donation toward R.125see R.125 poemNo coward soul is mine
Vol. 12R.127 target donation toward R.127see R.127 poemWhy ask to know what date what clime
R.173 add R.173 to cartadd R.173 to carttarget donation toward R.173see R.173 poemHer sisters and her brothers feet
R.175 add R.175 to cartadd R.175 to carttarget donation toward R.175see R.175 poemTis evening now the sun descends
R.178 add R.178 to cartadd R.178 to carttarget donation toward R.178see R.178 poemThere let thy bleeding branch atone
R.144 add R.144 to cartadd R.144 to carttarget donation toward R.144see R.144 poemI would have touched the heavnly key
R.044 add R.044 to cartadd R.044 to carttarget donation toward R.044see R.044 poemWhat winter floods what showers of Spring
R.062 add R.062 to cartadd R.062 to carttarget donation toward R.062see R.062 poemFair sinks the summer evening now
Vol. 13R.099 add R.099 to cartadd R.099 to carttarget donation toward R.099see R.099 poemHope was but a timid Friend—
R.061 target donation toward R.061see R.061 poemThe starry night shall tidings bring
R.141 target donation toward R.141see R.141 poemIts over now Ive known it all
R.146 add R.146 to cartadd R.146 to carttarget donation toward R.146see R.146 poemyes holy be thy resting place
R.195 add R.195 to cartadd R.195 to carttarget donation toward R.195see R.195 poemMy heart is not enrapturd now
R.193 add R.193 to cartadd R.193 to carttarget donation toward R.193see R.193 poemBut the hearts that once adored me
R.060 target donation toward R.060see R.060 poemHow long will you remain    the midnight hour
Vol. 14R.066 add R.066 to cartadd R.066 to carttarget donation toward R.066see R.066 poemThe wind I hear it sighing
R.003 add R.003 to cartadd R.003 to carttarget donation toward R.003see R.003 poemRed breast early in the morning
R.013v1 add R.013v1 to cartadd R.013v1 to carttarget donation toward R.013v1see R.013v1 poemThe Old church tower and Garden wall
R.013v2 add R.013v2 to cartadd R.013v2 to carttarget donation toward R.013v2see R.013v2 poemThe Old church tower and Garden wall
R.128 add R.128 to cartadd R.128 to carttarget donation toward R.128see R.128 poemLove is like the wild rose briar,
R.004 add R.004 to cartadd R.004 to carttarget donation toward R.004see R.004 poemThere shines the moon, at noon of night.
R.136 add R.136 to cartadd R.136 to carttarget donation toward R.136see R.136 poemO come again what chains withold
R.118 add R.118 to cartadd R.118 to carttarget donation toward R.118see R.118 poemAh! why, because the dazzeling sun
Vol. 15R.103 target donation toward R.103see R.103 poemWell hast thou spoken—and yet not taught
R.137 add R.137 to cartadd R.137 to carttarget donation toward R.137see R.137 poemWas it with the feilds of green
R.138 add R.138 to cartadd R.138 to carttarget donation toward R.138see R.138 poemHow loud the Storm sounds round the Hall!
R.001 add R.001 to cartadd R.001 to carttarget donation toward R.001see R.001 poemWill the day be bright or cloudy?
R.036 add R.036 to cartadd R.036 to carttarget donation toward R.036see R.036 poemWhere were ye all? and where wert thou
R.016 add R.016 to cartadd R.016 to carttarget donation toward R.016see R.016 poemThe night is darkening round me
R.108 add R.108 to cartadd R.108 to carttarget donation toward R.108see R.108 poemWhen weary with the long day's care
Vol. 16R.110 add R.110 to cartadd R.110 to carttarget donation toward R.110see R.110 poemO, thy bright eyes must answer now,
R.065 add R.065 to cartadd R.065 to carttarget donation toward R.065see R.065 poemO between distress and pleasure
R.069 add R.069 to cartadd R.069 to carttarget donation toward R.069see R.069 poemThe wind was rough which tore
R.096 add R.096 to cartadd R.096 to carttarget donation toward R.096see R.096 poemWhere beams the sun the brightest
R.199 add R.199 to cartadd R.199 to carttarget donation toward R.199see R.199 poemHarp of wild and dream like Strain
R.194 add R.194 to cartadd R.194 to carttarget donation toward R.194see R.194 poemStart not    upon the minster wall
R.031 add R.031 to cartadd R.031 to carttarget donation toward R.031see R.031 poemWell narrower draw the circle round
Vol. 17R.039 target donation toward R.039see R.039 poemLoud without the wind was roaring
R.040 add R.040 to cartadd R.040 to carttarget donation toward R.040see R.040 poemA little while, a little while
R.120a add R.120a to cartadd R.120a to carttarget donation toward R.120asee R.120a poemHeavy hangs the raindrop
R.120b add R.120b to cartadd R.120b to carttarget donation toward R.120bsee R.120b poemChild of Delight! with sunbright hair
R.168 add R.168 to cartadd R.168 to carttarget donation toward R.168see R.168 poemLady in your palace Hall
R.188 add R.188 to cartadd R.188 to carttarget donation toward R.188see R.188 poemMethinks this heart should rest a while
R.177 add R.177 to cartadd R.177 to carttarget donation toward R.177see R.177 poemWhat shadow is it
Vol. 18R.171 add R.171 to cartadd R.171 to carttarget donation toward R.171see R.171 poemLong neglect has worn away
R.172 add R.172 to cartadd R.172 to carttarget donation toward R.172see R.172 poemAwaking morning laughs from heaven
R.174 add R.174 to cartadd R.174 to carttarget donation toward R.174see R.174 poemO Harold while the darkness falls
R.181 add R.181 to cartadd R.181 to carttarget donation toward R.181see R.181 poemAll hushed and still within the house
R.082 add R.082 to cartadd R.082 to carttarget donation toward R.082see R.082 poemAnd like myself lone wholey lone
R.012 add R.012 to cartadd R.012 to carttarget donation toward R.012see R.012 poemFar away is the land of rest
R.055 target donation toward R.055see R.055 poemI've seen this dell in July's shine