Shannon’s Song – Sheet Music

The Shannon is the latest class of all-weather lifeboat to join the RNLI fleet; the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by waterjets instead of traditional propellers, increasing agility and manoeuvrability and capable of 25 knots. The Shannon class lifeboat is named after The River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland.

The subject choice for this song was made by Emma Storr who was quick to respond to my invitation to write words for a choral piece. Emma has had two poetry collections and a pamphlet published in the last 4 years. In 2023 she was one of 12 poets who collaborated with young musicians for the Leeds Lieder Festival to produce the Leeds Songbook 2023. Emma writes:

I am a poet and writer living in Leeds. I leapt at the opportunity to write the words for a song to celebrate the RNLI’s bicentenary because I am a great admirer of the institution. I often use sea imagery in my poetry. I wanted to capture the bravery of the lifeboat crew and the danger and drama involved. Keely’s music conveys these aspects beautifully and I feel very lucky to have worked with her.

I would like to also thank Craig McLeish for providing the tenor and bass parts for the audio learning tracks for this song.

  Click for Learning Tracks