Practice at the Beechwood for Bateman’s on 2nd August

There will be an EXTRA singing evening on Wednesday July 29th, 7.30 p.m., at the Beechwood Hall Hotel in Worthing.

Some extra time to prepare for our performance at “Bateman’s” on Sunday 2nd August 2015 – so if you’re planning to sing with us on the 2nd come and join us on the 29th too!

A REMINDER – about arranging SMALLER / LOCAL PERFORMANCE EVENTS

We now have a number of Performance Events booked and listed on our SDFS Diary Page – with thanks to John our Events Organiser for his hard work. In addition to these larger events many of our singers have expressed interest in singing at smaller or more local events and occasions, which may require fewer singers.

After discussions about how best to get these smaller events onto our programme (but leave John’s time free to focus primarily on the larger, Main, events) it has been suggested that the smaller occasions could be managed by the singer bringing the event to the SDFS’ attention, or by any other singer willing to take this on.

SO – If you have had an invitation, or have an idea, for the SDFS to perform at such an event – AND you or another singer are willing to manage the arrangements for SDFS to participate – then, providing there are no major clashes with an event already listed and enough singers are available, the event will be added to the others listed on our website.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO if you would like to add a small or local Event to the performance list ....

1. Let John know the event details as soon as possible (you can contact him via the SDFS email address southdownsfolksingers@gmail.com), and please include a brief notice about the event which he will forward to Keith our Web Administrator to post on our website’s new “Proposed Events” page. (A prompt to this will appear on the “Latest News” page.)


2. The notice must provide details of the event and the contribution the SDFS is being asked to make – name the singer who is leading on the arrangements, – and invite singers (from any locality) to respond to them if they would like to join in (giving a closing date for replies). (The SDFS email address can be given for replies, to avoid personal contact details being displayed, and John will forward the messages to the nominated singer in charge.)


3. Please let John know the names of any singers volunteering who have not used the SDFS address for their reply, and also keep him up to date with plans and progress (so that he can maintain an overview of all our engagements for future planning).


4. Once singer numbers are known by the given deadline another notice should be prepared and sent to John for Keith to post on the website, to confirm and share final plans if enough singers have volunteered or to cancel if insufficient interest. If the event is confirmed it will be transferred into the “Diary Dates” list.


5. When choosing the songs for a small group of singers, tried and tested material will enable a more confident performance without needing to arrange extra rehearsals, and if for a more informal occasion a musical lead ‘out front’ may not be necessary.

Let’s celebrate the South Downs Songs whenever and wherever we sing!
Henny

Local Group Report – Lewes Tuesday 16th June 2015

Twelve singers – Adrian, Angela B, Cat, Dave T, Dawn, John K, Judy, Mac, Margaret, Margo, Maria and Tina – gathered at the John Harvey Tavern. We didn’t sing beside the Ouse (maybe next month when we are doing less note-by-note learning of new songs and harmonies) but we posed for some photos outside in the last of the evening sun before heading back inside to the cosy downstairs Lewes Bar to start singing.

Photo courtesy of Margo

We looked back at the Sussex Day celebrations at Alfriston on Sunday which nine of us had attended (see separate report and photos) and looked ahead to the list of upcoming events, including some further singing opportunities over this side in Burwash and Haywards Heath. We were particularly excited to hear about plans hot off the press a few days ago for a possible 2016 singing trip along the coast on the ‘Waverley’, the oldest ocean going paddle steamer in the world.

Songs covered were My Boy Jack and Home Lads Home (which are likely to feature at the Bateman’s war themed event); Constant Lovers (including hammed-up music hall over the top scooping of notes and general woefulness); new songs Farmer’s Toast, Jim the Carter Lad, Pleasant and Delightful and They Won’t let Us go to Sea Any More; some new or newer harmonies for Rosebuds in June and Fathom the Bowl; an airing of an old favourite Three Maidens which has not been performed for a while; and East Sussex Drinking Song.

Any new singers are very welcome to join us in our sessions, third Tuesday of each month, just turn up with your voice and join in. Next few dates are 21 July, 18 August and 15 September.

Tina

Sussex Day Celebrations in Alfriston Village – 14th June 2015

Many of us arrived early to ensure a parking space and we enjoyed a wander around this beautiful village before our first sing at 1pm. Thank you very much to Tina for adapting our set list for the three different venues and setting us off on the right notes. The weather was kind and the National Trust Clergy House garden sheltered us from the wind and the Pentacle Drummers. True to her form, bright Phoebe came shining through the clouds during "Thousands Or More".

At 2pm we sang in the Parish Church and here was probably our biggest audience, although they didn't stay in the pews for long as they seemed to be trying to find a quiet place away from Eastbourne Scottish Bagpipers. Then a leisurely stroll up to The Star Inn to purchase a drink. I think we sounded our best here as Tina managed to sell five CDs. Then it was back down to The Tye where the Hunters Moon Morris were performing and the various stalls were set up.

It was a well-organised event but poorly attended. Unfortunately, there were other celebrations locally - Sussex Day, Magna Carta, Waterloo.... If we think we were too out of the way to attract an audience, then recall that none of the performers actually had a crowd larger than their own number even when in the middle of the Green. So don't feel forsaken or cast down, but rejoice that we could sing to our hearts' content in delightful settings.

Margo

Thanks to Peter B for the photos below.

Report From New Songs Working Party, 17th May 2015

The working party made up of the session leaders for the local groups (Alan Wheeler & Dave Garrard for Easebourne/Selham, Emily Longhurst for Worthing and Tina Cox for Lewes) met again at Emily’s house on 17th May, 2015.

In 2014 we were asked by the Committee to find 6 new songs and chose 13! This time we were looking for 6 songs and chose 11 so it’s been agreed we won’t repeat the exercise until 2017.

We previously had 39 songs so this takes our repertoire up to a round 50 songs, enough for a whole new CD in due course.

We chose the 11 songs based on:

1. all the songs having to sound great in their own right,
2. not being vetoed by any of us,
3. having a local link and
4. prioritising subjects less well represented in our existing repertoire, particularly regarding class/poverty; industries/occupations other than farming; the sea (with some coming from Chris Hare’s new “Secret Shore” coastal project); seasons other than summer; no more Copper or Belloc songs unless exceptional; songs written by/ about women.

The 11 songs we chose were:

Brave Eleven	Written by a local woman regarding heroic deaths in an attempted rescue from a shipwreck off Worthing.
Farmer’s Toast	Previously not included as we were unsure of its Sussex credentials. We’ve rechecked and it’s sufficiently widely spread and sung often in Sussex. A farmer gives thanks for his happy and fruitful life.
Jim The Carter Lad	Generally sung everywhere including Sussex. About a carter lad who goes merrily about his carting while giving pretty girls the eye.
Littlehampton Collier Lads	Song with obvious local connection and occupation which was popular along the South coast in the 19th century and was collected by Vaughan Williams.
Magpie	A traditional chorus “One for sorrow, two for joy etc” is included in an unusual song from the 1960s folk revival which references the magpie as a mystical “devil’s bird” which brings both joy and grief.
Masters In This Hall	For our Christmas repertoire. A carol written by William Morris, the Victorian artist, designer, writer, and socialist, set to an old French dance tune with a 16th century feel which tells of the poor bringing news of Christ’s birth to the masters.
Pleasant And Delightful	Traditional. Popularised by Shirley Collins and others. Like “The Nightingale” but instead of a soldier we have a sailor who is leaving his pretty Nancy to go where the loud cannons roar and it also has blackbirds, thrushes and "larks who sang melodious at the dawning of the day".
Poor Frozen-Out Gardeners	From an old broadside. About unemployed agricultural workers, winter and poverty.
Seasons Turn Around	Written by Sylvia Watts, mid 1970s. Popularised around Sussex by Martin Wyndham-Read. Beautifully poetic, “gold autumn, green spring, blue summer and white winter rain”.
They Won’t Let Us Go To Sea Anymore	Written by a folk singer then resident in Hastings about EU quotas leading to the decline of the local fishing fleet.
Woodcutter’s Song	Traditional. Praises woodcutters and 14 different types of wood – oak, pine, birch, chestnut, hawthorn, holly and many more.

There are also four of our songs chosen in April 2014 which are not yet equally known across the three local groups and have not been widely performed. These are Christmas Now Is Drawing Near At Hand, Constant Lovers, Coppers’ Christmas Song and My Boy Jack.

We agreed to start teaching these songs in the local sessions in the following order, with a view to beginning to perform them from the 2016 summer season onwards. In due course Alan, Dave, Emily and I will provide sound recordings of these new songs (and written notes for anyone who would like them).

Up to September 2015:

1. My Boy Jack (this was lower down, but has been moved up so we can sing it at Bateman’s on 2nd August as it is based on a Kipling poem)
2. Constant Lovers
3. Farmer’s Toast
4. Jim the Carter Lad
5. They Won’t Let Us Go To Sea Anymore
6. Pleasant And Delightful

September to December 2015:

7. Littlehampton Collier Lads
8. Woodcutter’s Song
9. Masters In This Hall
10. Coppers’ Christmas Song
11. Christmas Now Is Drawing Near At Hand

From January 2016:

12. Brave Eleven
13. Poor Frozen-out Gardeners
14. Seasons Turn Around
15. Magpie

Tina Cox
14.06.15

Sussex Day Celebrations at Alfriston Village, Sunday 14th June

All singers who have confirmed their attendance at this event should now have received an email from Tina with the final details and a parking permit. Anybody else still wanting to come should contact Tina on 07795 335646.

Harmony Workshop on Saturday, 11th July

For those of you who might be interested we'll be holding a Harmony Workshop on Saturday the 11th July. We'll be offering and practising harmony lines, both high and low, for many of the songs, firming up some you might already know and adding some new ones.

The songs we sing all only have their melody lines written down, so the harmonies we are adding are purely for variety and pleasure and are completely open to evolving as you choose. Usually at the monthly practices there isn't particular time to focus on the harmonies, so a day to concentrate on them should be most fruitful.

It will run from 10 til 4 at the Beechwood Hall Hotel in Worthing. There will be breaks in the morning, afternoon and at lunch-time, but still plenty of time for loads of singing. Come along and learn some new harmonies, or enjoy really getting to grips with the ones you already sing!

N.B. We’ll be in the downstairs “Aga Suite” at the Beechwood and space will be more limited than at our usual gatherings to sing. So if you want to confirm a place at the workshop please let us know via the SDFS email address southdownsfolksingers@gmail.com – or be first in the queue on the day!