The committee will meet at the Beechwood Hall Hotel on Wednesday 28 May at 7.30pm.
The agenda and previous meeting minutes are on the 'Meeting Agendas and Notes' page.
John C
Welcome to our website for singers who want to learn and sing traditional and new South Downs folk songs, sung in the traditional way. "Put another barrel on, landlord, and pull a pint for me! The ale here in Sussex is the best we all agree!"
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Friday, 23 May 2014
Horse at War - Saturday 7th June
Just to clarify: the date of the SDFS Horses at War event is Saturday 7th June; it was to have been Sunday 8th June but was finally changed a few weeks ago to the 7th.
The flyer has 8th printed on it - this is no longer correct.
Adrian F
The flyer has 8th printed on it - this is no longer correct.
Adrian F
Monday, 19 May 2014
Downloads
Apologies for the problems there have been with downloading lyrics and meeting notes - it should be fixed now. Please let me know if you still cannot access them.
Adrian F
Adrian F
Friday, 16 May 2014
SDFS Committee Meeting
The committee meets on Wednesday 28 May. If there is anything you would like to raise or feel needs to be discussed, please let John C know so that it can be added to the agenda.
As all the best organizations say: "It's your SDFS! Have a say in how it's run!"
Adrian F
As all the best organizations say: "It's your SDFS! Have a say in how it's run!"
Adrian F
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Horses at War
This event takes place at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum over the weekend of 7 / 8 June. We are singing on Saturday 7 June at 2.15pm for about 45 minutes in or at the front of the Music Tent in the Market Square. There will be no amplification. The singers as a group will be singing three new songs, along with others from the repertoire, and Amaryllis and friends will sing another three
Arrangements are as follows:
Entrance / car parking
As previously - you will need a pass if you are singing. Last date for requesting passes (from John C) is 31 May. Please ensure you provide John with a postal address if you are unable to come to the Beechwood on 4 June.
Songs runthrough, 15 May
Easebourne Thursday
Songs runthrough, 20 May
Lewes Tuesday
Main Rehearsal, 21 May
At the Beechwood, at 7.30pm
Wednesday at the Beechwood, 4 June
last-minute song tweaks
car park / entrance passes issued
Performance, 7 June
Meet at 2.00pm at the Music Tent
New songs:
All three local sessions have now sung these - possibly with different words. On the Lyrics and Music page, there are the finalized words for these three songs, along with recorded examples for you to listen to.
Adrian F
Arrangements are as follows:
Entrance / car parking
As previously - you will need a pass if you are singing. Last date for requesting passes (from John C) is 31 May. Please ensure you provide John with a postal address if you are unable to come to the Beechwood on 4 June.
Songs runthrough, 15 May
Easebourne Thursday
Songs runthrough, 20 May
Lewes Tuesday
Main Rehearsal, 21 May
At the Beechwood, at 7.30pm
Wednesday at the Beechwood, 4 June
last-minute song tweaks
car park / entrance passes issued
Performance, 7 June
Meet at 2.00pm at the Music Tent
New songs:
- Home, Lads, Home
- The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun
- All Things Are Quite Silent
All three local sessions have now sung these - possibly with different words. On the Lyrics and Music page, there are the finalized words for these three songs, along with recorded examples for you to listen to.
Adrian F
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Anne Harrow
It is with huge sadness that I have to report the death of Anne Harrow, partner of Les Blows and extremely enthusiastic South Downs Folk Singer.
The Worthing Herald, 1st May, carries the announcement of Anne's peaceful passing in St. Barnabas House on 24th April, aged 54. Sadly missed by family, friends and all those whose lives she touched. The world has lost a wonderful woman, amazing musician and teacher extraordinaire. The service for Anne will be at 3.40pm on Monday, 12th May, at Worthing Crematorium. Family flowers only. Donations to St. Barnabas House, c/o Ian Hart Funeral Service Limited, 92-94 Broadwater Road, Worthing, BN14 9DE.
There will be a reception at the Findon Manor Hotel afterwards: all South Downs Folk Singers will be very welcome at both the funeral service and the reception - there will be singing! There is no specific dress code.
Adrian F
The Worthing Herald, 1st May, carries the announcement of Anne's peaceful passing in St. Barnabas House on 24th April, aged 54. Sadly missed by family, friends and all those whose lives she touched. The world has lost a wonderful woman, amazing musician and teacher extraordinaire. The service for Anne will be at 3.40pm on Monday, 12th May, at Worthing Crematorium. Family flowers only. Donations to St. Barnabas House, c/o Ian Hart Funeral Service Limited, 92-94 Broadwater Road, Worthing, BN14 9DE.
There will be a reception at the Findon Manor Hotel afterwards: all South Downs Folk Singers will be very welcome at both the funeral service and the reception - there will be singing! There is no specific dress code.
Adrian F
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Easebourne Thursday
Just a brief post to confirm that the monthly session at Easebourne is on Thursday 15th May, not 22nd May as previously listed. Apologies for any confusion.
Adrian F
Adrian F
Friday, 25 April 2014
New Songs for 2014
This post was edited on 25 September 2014 to include the information that was previously on a separate page.
A new selection of songs has been decided upon for this year: more songs about drinking (of course!), a few to link in with the centenary of the Great War – relevant because of some of the events we'll be participating in – plus a couple of new Christmas songs. Word sheets will be available.
Full information follows below.
Adrian F
A new selection of songs has been decided upon for this year: more songs about drinking (of course!), a few to link in with the centenary of the Great War – relevant because of some of the events we'll be participating in – plus a couple of new Christmas songs. Word sheets will be available.
Full information follows below.
Adrian F
NEW SONGS WORKING GROUP
On Sunday 6 April, the local group leaders (Alan Wheeler / Dave Garrard from Easebourne, Emily Longhurst from Worthing and Tina Cox from Lewes) gathered at Emily’s home for the exciting but somewhat daunting task delegated to them by the Committee – that of choosing five or six new songs to add to the existing core repertoire of 18.
Fortified by coffee and Emily’s 'sparkle cake' and entertained by her two adorable young children, we looked through words and sheet music, listened to SoundCloud recordings we had prepared earlier, found snatches of songs online (including some interesting singing by the great Belloc himself) and sang aloud to each other.
52 songs were considered, of which ten have already been tried out during the past six months. We grappled with the need to balance authors, periods, tempo, mood, connection to the Downs and (especially) topic, taking into account the specific events in our 2014 calendar.
Firstly the carols (this was the easiest part): we added: The Coppers’ Christmas Song and Sweet Bells (both tried out in 2013) Christmas is Now Drawing Near at Hand (on one of the original teaching CDs) and The Falmer Carol.
Next, of the other songs started in 2013, we decided to keep: Gooch’s Beer, Sussex by the Sea, West Sussex Drinking Song (two new verses to learn) and Where Stormy Winds do Blow which had all been enthusiastically received by the three local groups.
We then spent three hours dividing the remaining 44 suggestions into categories of “Love it, want to sing it this year”, “It’s OK, keep it in reserve for future years”, "Don't know it well enough to comment, look at it again next year", “Not suitable for the whole group, maybe for a smaller group”, “Don’t really like it” and “Terrific song but dubious / tenuous link to the Downs".
At the end of the discussion, nine songs had been voted “Love it” by us all. We decided at that point not to attempt to reduce the list any further but instead to rank them in the order in which we will introduce them, starting with the War songs (for the “Horses at War” event at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in June) then Drinking Songs (“Amberley Ale, Food & Music Festival” in August) General Songs (anytime we can fit them in) and Christmas Songs (from October).
This means that the final overall list for the SDFS as a whole is:
War Songs:
All Things are Quite Silent
Home Lads Home
My Boy Jack
The Ladies go Dancing at Whitsun
Drinking Songs:
Ale Glorious Ale
Gooch’s Beer
O Good Ale
West Sussex Drinking Song (two new verses to learn).
General Songs:
The Constant Lovers
Country Life
Ha’nacker Mill (may also fit the War category if space / time to learn)
Sussex by the Sea
Where Stormy Winds do Blow.
Christmas Songs:
Christmas is now Drawing Near at Hand
Coppers’ Christmas Song
Falmer Carol
Sweet Bells.
There may be other songs for specific events which are more suited to being sung by men only, women only, or a smaller number singing the verses and all joining in the chorus, which can be agreed nearer the time and finalised at the runthrough in advance of each event.
We have now started teaching these songs and word sheets are available at the sessions. Downloadable copies should be available soon too. We also plan to record teaching CDs in the next few weeks* so singers will be able to practise between sessions, including learning harmony parts for those who wish to do so.
Thanks again to Emily for the hosting and the cake; and to Dave’s family for sparing him on a day of airport delays and other difficulties.
We hope you will enjoy learning these songs as much as we have enjoyed selecting them and look forward to seeing you at a local group in the near future.
Tina
*downloadable mp3 format files should be available in due course.
On Sunday 6 April, the local group leaders (Alan Wheeler / Dave Garrard from Easebourne, Emily Longhurst from Worthing and Tina Cox from Lewes) gathered at Emily’s home for the exciting but somewhat daunting task delegated to them by the Committee – that of choosing five or six new songs to add to the existing core repertoire of 18.
Fortified by coffee and Emily’s 'sparkle cake' and entertained by her two adorable young children, we looked through words and sheet music, listened to SoundCloud recordings we had prepared earlier, found snatches of songs online (including some interesting singing by the great Belloc himself) and sang aloud to each other.
52 songs were considered, of which ten have already been tried out during the past six months. We grappled with the need to balance authors, periods, tempo, mood, connection to the Downs and (especially) topic, taking into account the specific events in our 2014 calendar.
Firstly the carols (this was the easiest part): we added: The Coppers’ Christmas Song and Sweet Bells (both tried out in 2013) Christmas is Now Drawing Near at Hand (on one of the original teaching CDs) and The Falmer Carol.
Next, of the other songs started in 2013, we decided to keep: Gooch’s Beer, Sussex by the Sea, West Sussex Drinking Song (two new verses to learn) and Where Stormy Winds do Blow which had all been enthusiastically received by the three local groups.
We then spent three hours dividing the remaining 44 suggestions into categories of “Love it, want to sing it this year”, “It’s OK, keep it in reserve for future years”, "Don't know it well enough to comment, look at it again next year", “Not suitable for the whole group, maybe for a smaller group”, “Don’t really like it” and “Terrific song but dubious / tenuous link to the Downs".
At the end of the discussion, nine songs had been voted “Love it” by us all. We decided at that point not to attempt to reduce the list any further but instead to rank them in the order in which we will introduce them, starting with the War songs (for the “Horses at War” event at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in June) then Drinking Songs (“Amberley Ale, Food & Music Festival” in August) General Songs (anytime we can fit them in) and Christmas Songs (from October).
This means that the final overall list for the SDFS as a whole is:
War Songs:
All Things are Quite Silent
Home Lads Home
My Boy Jack
The Ladies go Dancing at Whitsun
Drinking Songs:
Ale Glorious Ale
Gooch’s Beer
O Good Ale
West Sussex Drinking Song (two new verses to learn).
General Songs:
The Constant Lovers
Country Life
Ha’nacker Mill (may also fit the War category if space / time to learn)
Sussex by the Sea
Where Stormy Winds do Blow.
Christmas Songs:
Christmas is now Drawing Near at Hand
Coppers’ Christmas Song
Falmer Carol
Sweet Bells.
There may be other songs for specific events which are more suited to being sung by men only, women only, or a smaller number singing the verses and all joining in the chorus, which can be agreed nearer the time and finalised at the runthrough in advance of each event.
We have now started teaching these songs and word sheets are available at the sessions. Downloadable copies should be available soon too. We also plan to record teaching CDs in the next few weeks* so singers will be able to practise between sessions, including learning harmony parts for those who wish to do so.
Thanks again to Emily for the hosting and the cake; and to Dave’s family for sparing him on a day of airport delays and other difficulties.
We hope you will enjoy learning these songs as much as we have enjoyed selecting them and look forward to seeing you at a local group in the near future.
Tina
*downloadable mp3 format files should be available in due course.
Ex-servicemen's veterans' event
We have been asked if we would like to do a 20-minute spot for the annual Worthing Combined Ex-Services Association Veteran's Weekend at The Steyne Gardens, Worthing, on Saturday, 28th June. Likely time is about 1230.
If you are up for this, please contact Amaryllis as soon as possible (see 'Contact Us' page). The setlist may include new songs My Boy Jack and The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun, along with standard SDFS fare. We will tackle these at the Beechwood on Wednesday 7th May.
Words should be available on 7th for those who do not yet have them.
Adrian F
If you are up for this, please contact Amaryllis as soon as possible (see 'Contact Us' page). The setlist may include new songs My Boy Jack and The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun, along with standard SDFS fare. We will tackle these at the Beechwood on Wednesday 7th May.
Words should be available on 7th for those who do not yet have them.
Adrian F
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
The Mermaid
Chris Hare will be coming to Wednesday at the Beechwood tomorrow and will be teaching us The Mermaid.
Here are the lyrics.
Adrian F
Here are the lyrics.
Adrian F
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