Category: Vocal Music / Art Song / Guitar Music / Piano
Instrumentation: female voice, piano; also available for voice, guitar
Duration: approximately 4 minutes 50 seconds for voice and piano; approximately 3½ minutes for voice and guitar
Text / Source: Words by Garth Baxter and Katherine Baxter, freely adapted from a poem by Willa Cather
Publisher: Doberman-Yppan; Les Productions d’Oz for the guitar version

Grandmother, Think Not I Forget is a deeply personal art song for female voice and piano, with an additional version for voice and guitar. Its text, written by Garth Baxter and Katherine Baxter and freely adapted from a poem by Willa Cather, serves as a touching memorial to Katherine Baxter’s grandmother. The song speaks directly to remembrance, affection, and the lasting emotional presence of those we have lost.

The work belongs primarily to Baxter’s vocal and art song catalog, while its alternate guitar version gives it an intimate place in guitar-based recital repertoire. The piano version offers a fuller lyrical and harmonic frame for the voice, while the guitar version brings a more delicate chamber quality. In both forms, the song remains centered on the expressive power of the vocal line and the tenderness of the text.

Critics have noted the song’s strong impact. Laurence Vittes, writing in Gramophone Magazine in May 2018, called it “a sweet love song” and singled it out on the recording Ask The Moon, while David Isaacs wrote in Soundboard Magazine that “the vocal part is gorgeous.” Baxter’s writing combines lyrical warmth, tonal clarity, and emotional directness, allowing the memorial character of the text to reach listeners with simplicity and sincerity.

Grandmother, Think Not I Forget is well suited for vocal recitals, memorial programs, guitar or piano-based song programs, and concerts centered on themes of love, remembrance, and loss. At an intermediate level in the guitar version, it is accessible to many performers while offering the emotional depth and audience connection of a mature art song.