[Sheet music] Coming Home

Sheet music for the song titled, 'Coming Home', with lyrics written by May Eardley-Wilmot and music composed by Charles Willeby. This copy of the song is for piano and voice in the key of G, and was published by The John Church Co. Inc. of Cincinnati, New York and London. The cover of this copy features a print of a rural scene of a road stretching between paddocks, flanked on one side by a row of trees. The back page features a list of 'new and standard songs and ballads' available from the John Church company with the page inside the back cover, blank without any content.

The lyrics of this song talk about the joy and memories associated with returning home to loved ones. The song also includes suggestions of forgetting sorrow until tomorrow.

May Eardley-Wilmot was a British lyricist who served as a nurse during the First World War with the British Red Cross at 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth. She was the eldest daughter of Rear Admiral Sir Sydney Marow Eardley-Wilmot and was educated both at home and in Heidleberg, Germany. She was involved in the Performing Rights Society and was known as a popular lyricist, a leader in community singing and also published a book of poetry. Some of her other most well-known songs include 'Little grey home in the west'.

Charles Willeby was a British composer whose songs were popular during the early twentieth century and he also wrote a biography about the classical composer Frederic Chopin and another work titled 'Masters of English music', first published in 1893. The Australian contralto singer, Ada Crossley, drew attention to Willeby's compositions during an interview published in Brisbane newspaper, The Queenslander, on 5 January 1901. During this interview, Crossley commented, in reference to offers of new songs, 'One composer, whose work is new to me, has lately produced some songs - Mr Charles Willeby.'

Towards the bottom of this page is a sound recording of this sheet music, or a parody, that was created as part of the Music and the First World War project. More information about this recording, including names of the performers, can be found on the catalogue record for the sound recording. A link to the catalogue record for the sound recording can be found at the bottom of this page, under the heading ‘Related objects’ where it can be identified with the prefix [sound recording].