Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 03 Jan 14 - 08:05 AM

And here's a video of While Shepherds Watched
(Copper Family tune) from our last public performance of 2013 at St. Michael's church in Lewes.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 30 Dec 13 - 02:53 AM

Gosh, that went a bomb. The church was packed and people were standing at the back. We're very keen to research some more carols in old Sussex manuscripts and take the show to more places next year, so if you're looking for an event to put on round Christmas 2014 in striking distance of Lewes do get in touch.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 27 Dec 13 - 06:14 PM

Last public performance this year is on Sunday 29th. December at St. Michael's Church, High Street, Lewes, at 3.00 p.m. Admission is free with a retiring collection in aid of the church fabric fund, and refreshments will be available in the interval. The nearest car park is the one in Westgate Street and parking is free on a Sunday.

Happy New Year,

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 24 Dec 13 - 06:47 AM

I should have explained that recent arrivals in Sussex pronounce Seaford as if it was something you buy off a whelk stall, not as the proper 'Sea - Foord'. Anyway, come and see us on 29th. December at St. Michael's in Lewes if you can.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all on Mudcat.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 23 Dec 13 - 06:13 AM

Our last public performance this year will be on Sunday 29th. Decmeber at St. Michael's Church in Lewes High Street at 3.00 p.m. Admission is free with a retiring collection for the church restoration fund and refreshments will be served in the interval.

St. Michael's is a lovely old church close to the entrance to Lewes Castle. It contains a fine memorial to Sir Nicholas Pelham who died in 1599. He repelled an attack of French pirates on Seaford, and it's recorded in rhyming couplets on the memorial, finishing with:

'What time ye Fench sought to have sack't Seafoord,
This Pelham did repel them back aboord.'

Not only is this a frightful pun, but it shows you how to pronounce the name of Seaford properly.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 13 - 11:41 AM

O, if only Lewes was in Lancashire!

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 16 Dec 13 - 03:14 PM

And here is the Mummers' Play from the same evening. As we are in Sussex I should really say Tipteerers.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 Dec 13 - 07:40 PM

Thank you for your posts, Valmai. I enjoyed the video.

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 15 Dec 13 - 06:27 PM

Thanks, Malcolm, it's very kind of you to say that. If you can ever battle down to Lewes you'll be more than welcome.

We had a very good time at Michelham Priory this afternoon. Despite filthy weather the Great Barn was full, and the mulled wine and mince pies did a lot to drive out the cold and lubricate the voices. Every time we do this I've felt a prickle behind the eyes when at the end Shirley reads Bob Copper's account of the family Christmas night in Rottingdean and we launch into Shepherds Arise.

We will be taking the show out again next Christmas and hope to add newly-researched carols from Sussex manuscripts, as well as other dance tunes from the same sources. If anyone's planning events for Christmas 2014 and isn't too far from Lewes, do bear us in mind.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: GUEST,Malcolm Storey
Date: 14 Dec 13 - 09:26 PM

Thanks Valmai for putting this on the Mudflap.

There are odd times when Judy and I wished we lived 200+ miles further south. A chance to catch one of these presentations would qualify.

Keep up the excellent work you are doing in what seems to be a thriving area of our favourite music (and people).

cheers

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 14 Dec 13 - 05:21 AM

Here's a video of the first two carols, Blow Ye The Trumpet and Come All You Worthy Christian Men,recorded at Lewes Saturday Folk Club last Saturday. It includes Shirley's introductions.

The first carol is enlivened by our noble conductor, Stuart Walker, flinging up his hands to bring in the singers with a spacious gesture and knocking his music flying. Will Duke lifts his own music out of the way as if to say, 'Well, you're not having my copy' and Bob Lewis appears to bless himself.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 12 Dec 13 - 05:54 PM

This is taking on a life of its own. The atmosphere was vibrant last night despite being in the more formal setting of a church (St. John sub Castro in Lewes).

On Sunday afternoon (15th,. December) at 2.00 pm we present the performance again in the magnificent setting of the Great Barn at Michelham Priory.

The entrance ticket of £7.50 (£6.50 for seniors) covers both admission to the Priory and to the show, which we are calling 'Shepherds Arise!' after the best-known carol from the Copper Family of Rottingdean.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 09 Dec 13 - 03:24 PM

The show went brilliantly last Saturday. Bob Lewis sang two wonderful solos, a rare and beautiful wassail song and a version of The Leaves of Life which he learned from Gordon Hall with a tune which he said made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he first heard it. Extracts will be appearing on YouTube.

We look forward to presenting the show at St. John sub Castro church in Lewes on 11th. December (7.45 pm), at Michelham Priory in Sussex in the afternoon of 15th. December and St. Michael's Church in Lewes in the afternoon of 29th. December.

The musical inspiration and direction comes from Stuart Walker, with the backing of Lewes Saturday Folk Club to pay for rehearsal space, publicity and so on. A worthy venture for any folk club.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: RE: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 23 Nov 13 - 09:49 AM

We're getting very excited about this now as a lot of hard work has gone into rehearsals through the year.

Valmai (Lewes Saturday Folk Club)

Subject: Old Sussex Carols with Shirley Collins
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 12 Nov 13 - 01:09 PM

This is a revival by Stuart Walker of the Hope in the Valley carols put together by Vic Gammon nearly forty years ago, when interest in West Gallery music was awakening. The performance includes a short mumming play as well as readings and dance tunes. Shirley Collins comperes, Will Duke plays and sings and Bob Lewis is also singing.

The carols will be performed at Lewes Saturday Folk Club on 7th. December, St. John sub Castro church in Lewes on 11th. December, at Michelham Priory in Sussex in the afternoon of 15th. December and St. Michael's Church in Lewes in the afternoon on 29th. December.

Here's a fuller description of the event at Michelham Priory:

The Sussex Archaeological Society
An Afternoon of Sussex Folk Carols

Michelham Priory is thrilled to be hosting a performance of Sussex Carols by the Lewes Saturday Folk Club on Sunday 15th December, presented by Shirley Collins.

The afternoon performance will include Sussex traditional folk carols, Christmas anthems and songs including pieces from the repertoire of the Copper family of Rottingdean. There will also be music and readings from Sussex sources.

The ensemble consists of seventeen singers and seven instrumentalists, all of whom are seasoned musicians from the traditional world, and some from choral backgrounds. The compere will be Shirley Collins OBE, nationally renowned in the folk world and President of the English Folk Song and Dance Society. Shirley writes,

"I am delighted to be part of the Sussex Carols afternoon and really looking forward to being at Michelham Priory in December. It's the perfect venue for this event. What better start to Christmas could there be than a performance of genuine traditional carols and songs of old Sussex? Vigorously sung with rich and beautiful harmonies, they are stirring and moving. Along with contemporary readings, Sussex tunes and a Mummer's play, this is what Christmas should be – a lively celebration from a simpler time, full of the spirit of Christmas Past." said Ms Collins.

Usual admission fees to Michelham Priory (£7.50 for adults, £6.50 for Seniors) will include entrance to the performance being held at 2pm in the Elizabethan Great Barn.

http://sussexpast.co.uk/event/an-afternoon-of-sussex-folk-carols