Shepherds Arise! Old Sussex carols, dance tunes & Mummers' Play, Lewes Saturday Folk Club

About

A selection of beautiful old West Gallery carols from Sussex villages accompanied by flute, fiddle, serpent, bassoon, clarinet, concertinas & recorder. Between the carols are readings about Christmas in Sussex in the past, and the musicians play lively dance tunes from old Sussex manuscripts. There is also a Sussex Mummers' play. As always, there will be some old favourites & some new additions.

This is a lovely celebration of Christmas from earlier centuries, still full of the joy and delight it gave then.

The carols and dance tunes are from 18th. and 19th. century handwritten manuscripts mostly held at Barbican House, Lewes, by the Sussex Archaeological Society. In 1982 a selection of the dance tunes was assembled by Dr. Vic Gammon and Anne Loughran and published as 'A Sussex Tune Book' by the English Folk Dance & Song Society.

Dr. Gammon also researched the carols and gathered musicians and singers to perform them under the name 'Hope In The Valley' thirty-five years ago. Mary Motley directed Hope In The Valley when Dr. Gammon moved from Sussex.

The current group was assembled by Stuart Walker in 2013 to bring this beautiful collection of old Sussex music back to life.

Everyone is welcome, especially if you'd like to sing or play. There will be plenty of opportunities for floor singers as well as the main performance. We mostly sing and play traditional music from the British Isles, but we enjoy other styles as well. We always start off with some English dance tunes for anyone with an instrument to join in.

We have a loyalty card. Six visits earn you £5 off an evening when admission is £5 or more. It's £8 tonight. Advance tickets will be available through the club's website soon & are already available direct from Valmai Goodyear - this sold out in the last three years.