The familiar chime sequence woven into this tune’s ending—first known as the Cambridge Quarters and later, having been adopted for Big Ben, as the Westminster Quarters—was composed in 1793 by, or in collaboration with, eighteen-year-old Oxford organ student and onetime child prodigy William Crotch for a clock being installed at Cambridge University’s Great St. Mary’s Church.
The simple melody remains to this day a standard among Western clockmakers and may be heard in all parts of the world.
Julie Byrne continues an increasingly necessary tradition of quietly offering musical artifacts that want to be climbed into and lived in (spelunked?), to be known, like company, rather than consumed. Brian Seabolt
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 15, 2024