I haven’t missed a single day on this blog since a year ago today.
A lot has happened since then – a lot of writing and a lot of connections made.
One news story I haven’t written about yet involves the song “Happy Birthday To You,” which has long been erroneously held under copyright. It was clearly written well before the cutoff for copyright, but a legal loophole allowed the “copyright owner” to collect $2 million a year or more in licensing.
Charging for a song written in the 1850s.
Recently a judge ruled that this was a no-go, and the result was that “Happy Birthday to You” has been placed, rightfully, in the public domain.
It belongs to all of us.
In honor of that ruling, and celebrating my blog birthday, I present to you my choral settings of “Happy Birthday to You.”
I’ve arranged it in a variety of voicings that will all work together – so every choir can learn the right voicing for them, and sing it on their own or with any other choir.
I’ve never been OK with the “intentionally ugly” versions of “Happy Birthday” you hear from choirs so often.
So let’s fix it. Download, copy, and use these versions with your choirs. Your choir can always be ready. My little gift to the choral community.
Happy Birthday to this blog, and thank you for continuing to read.