‘To keep his songs being sung’
Singer-songwriter’s large collection of work arranged for choral performances
The legacy of Shelburne County singer-songwriter Robbie Smith has taken on a life of its own with the release of 30 choral arrangements of Robbie's Songs, set by 16 of Canada's best composers.
"It's rare you get to create such a body of work,” says Tim Callahan-Cross, executive director of the Nova Scotia Choral Foundation (NSCF). “It was a very exciting project to undertake. The outcome is that this now represents one of the largest collections of work by one singer-songwriter that has been arranged for choral performances.”
Robbie's Songs have been a labour of love for Kathleen Glauser, who was the musical partner in the duo Naming the Twins with the late Robbie Smith.
Glauser recalls talking with him before he passed away on Feb. 27, 2019.
“We had talked about how to keep the music alive… We talked about (what) was the best way to keep his songs being sung,” she said.
WORKING ON ALBUM
At the time, the duo was working on their Winter album, which had some nice pieces for choirs to sing – planting the idea that choirs would always need nice new music to sing.
Glauser said in May 2019 she contacted the Nova Scotia Choral Foundation with the idea of preserving Robbie's music through choral arrangements. The rest, as they say, is history.
“They were just incredibly supportive, helping to point me in the right direction. I started networking like crazy. We had about five choirs singing Robbie's songs by that Christmas from the Winter album and it grew from there,” says Glauser.
“The pandemic was a downer. Everything came to a grinding halt the first winter, but I kept going.”
The completion of the Robbie's Songs project was celebrated on April 29 and
30, 2023, with choral performances in Truro and Halifax, that were recorded by Leaf Music, which created and is distributing a 17-track digital record of the two concerts.
“We had about 375 voices participating in the finale massed choir piece called A Peaceful Song. It's the final track on the album,” says Glauser.
“The recording itself is a celebration of the project,” adds Callahan-Cross.
The choral arrangements are available for anyone through the NSCF or Cyprus Publishing.
“It's taken off,” says Callahan-Cross. “Choirs across Canada are already singing some of it. Choirs seem to really enjoy them.”
Glauser says it's a “very big deal to have that happen."
"It opens a whole new world. It means choirs anywhere in the world are singing Robbie songs. Even if I didn't do anything more, the project now has a life
of its own.”
Smith is also remembered every year in September at the Ancient River Festival in Shelburne. Named after his song Lullaby to an Ancient River, the annual free festival is dedicated to Atlantic Canadian songwriters in memory of Robbie Smith.
At the 2023 festival, with assistance from the Shelburne County Arts Council, the Cantabile Singers of Truro were brought in to host the Ancient River Pop Up Choir and workshop, which ended with all participants joining the choir to sing The Last Song.
As a result of the workshops, Glauser says, “We had enough momentum to start a brand-new community chorus here called The Shelburne Chorus."
The Shelburne Chorus made their debut performance on Dec. 10, singing Smith's Painter of Wintertime.
“Robbie would be happy," says Glauser. "He loved sharing his music.”