Flower of the Month – August
1st August 2025
August
“The Harvests of Time”
Eliza Flower (1803–1846)
for solo voice and piano
from “Songs of the Months”
published by A J Novello
December 1834
performed by
Laurence Panter – Tenor & Piano
The words of the song were written by Harriet Martineau (1802-1876),
journalist, writer, sociologist, abolitionist and political economist.
In nature the flower of this month is Gladiolus which seems to have all kinds of meanings attached to it from strength to healing, love and remembrance.
YouTube Recordings of the Songs of the Months were released online each month throughout 2024.
The composer of each of the 12 songs is Eliza Flower (1803 – 1846), who set poetry provided by her close knit circle of literary friends, mainly women, including her sister Sarah Flower Adams. The result is an eclectic mix of songs which vere from romantic to dramatic harmony and from simple beauty to lively humour.
The short editorial introduction explains that each song appeared throughout 1834 in the Monthly Repository – a publication associated with South Place Chapel where Flower’s life and work was based.
