Share the Music of Joseph Garvey with the World

Joseph Garvey was a talented composer and gifted music teacher. Our goal is to digitize his music and make it available online (garveyscores.com).

Another tantalizing tidbit about the music of Joseph Garvey.
Dear friends and benefactors, The children of Joseph Garvey are happy to report progress is being made on the production and circulation of our father's music. While we are working out the copyright and technicalities of making the first twenty digitized pieces available at garveyscores.com, allow us to share an overview and insight on the composer and his body of works.

Garvey was a man and composer of the mid twentieth century. His body of works is not prodigious - but what is lacks in quantity it has in quality.
It could be that Garvey was to twentieth century classical music what J.D. Salinger was to twentieth century English literature.
In "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour" Salinger's dedication reads as follows:
“If there is an amateur reader still left in the world—or anybody who just reads and runs—I ask him or her, with untellable affection and gratitude, to split the dedication of this book four ways with my wife and children.”

Like Salinger - Garvey's works are short, for example his String Quartet in One Movement, his short Symphony [12 minutes] - in fact most of his pieces do not belabor or extrapolate - but they pack a powerful contrapuntal punch.
This probably reflects the twentieth century culture's need for expedience.

In any case it is interesting to consider the range of the lengths all of his pieces.
In this light it is worth considering Garvey's shortest piece - a setting of the poem “A Simple Grace” by Robert Herrick [1591- 1674].

The span of Joseph Garvey’s extant compositions ranges from this “perfect canon” for children to his largest most ambitious work “Psalms and Disguises” - which comprised a wind octet, brass quartet, SATB chorus with solo soprano, strings, viola and cellos, percussion trio, and a jazz quintet lasting just over 24 minutes. 
One might say that Garvey’s pieces range from the sublime to the elegantly ridiculous.

Occasionally, when searching through vocal music scores written down the ages one comes upon some carefully preserved few measures labeled “Fragment - Gibbons” or “Fragment - Wilbye”.

But “A Simple Grace” is no fragment, it is a complete 4 part canon in just 8 measures with modal sophistication.

In this tiny piece we see the craft of a miniaturist.
Written at the request of a friend and adopted by Garvey’s descendants as the grace sung before our meals, it is easy for young children to learn and sing.
It demonstrates a well written round with a composed ending--that is, a “perfect” or complete canon.
While the key signature is F major it starts and ends around the Sol or dominant [C]. The melody begins on the high Sol and ends on the low Sol. The four lines end on a beautiful chord low Sol - Ti - Re - high Sol thus changing from a typical F major mode - to the authentic VIIth Gregorian mode. So NOT your typical Do - Mi - Sol - Do round at all!

We cannot wait to share this little gem with the world! Thank you for your generosity and patience.