Frederic Weatherly was an English lawyer, broadcaster, and lyricist who wrote more than 3,000 lyrics for popular songs, for example, Roses of Picardy, Danny Boy, or Londonderry Air.
He also worked as a schoolmaster and a private tutor until 1887. He lived between 4 October 1848 – 7 September 1929 and was very appreciated of his work.
Roses of Picardy is one of Frederic’s amazing songs, written by him and composed by Haydn Wood. The song is a British popular song, released in 1976 by Chappell & Co and it got very famous.
Roses of Picardy is one of the most famous songs of the First World War and it has been interpreted and recorded in a lot of versions by many artists up to present.
Frederic took some time to choose the perfect voice and he becomes impressed with the extraordinary voice of the soprano Elsie Griffin, the leading artist with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Roses of Picardy was one of her most successful hits of the 20th century, together with Danny Boy in 1910. The songs were composed by Haydn Wood, who wrote more than 200 ballads, but Roses of Picardy became his most popular one.
Haydn tells the story of the melody was that one night he was standing on top of a London bus, going home and the melody came to his head. He did not have his notebook, so he jumped off the bus and wrote the refrain on an old envelope.
Nobody knows the exact story that stands behind the words of the song, everything being so unclear, but we found information about it in Haydn 1926 memoirs, in which he suggests that it is about a love affair of one of his closest friends. Some references say that it is unlikely that the love affair involved Haydn himself.
You can find the free Roses of Picardy piano sheets on our website and all the information you need so you can try playing it at your own piano at home.
You can find some versions of the song on YouTube, like the ones played by Lambert Murphy in 1917, Red Nichols in 1929, Mario Lanza in 1952, or even Frank Sinatra in 1962.
The free Roses of Picardy piano sheet music from BossPiano.com gives you the free opportunity to challenge yourself today with such an amazing and old song.
