Local Group Report - Worthing - Wednesday February 9th 2022

Unfortunately Emily couldn't be with the 23 of us meeting at The Barn this month - but the ranging list of songs compiled by Amaryllis gave us plenty to choose from to fill the evening, with Angela S supporting us with her guidance when needed.  "Pleasant and Delightful”  warmed us up before singing "The Nightingale" and "The Sussex Wedding Song/Come Write Me Down” (both from our original SDFS 'song book').  “Farmer’s Toast”  and "Lark in the Morning”  followed.  We then revisited the "The Parting Song”, a newish song begun in previous sessions and gradually becoming familiar to us.  Another song "When Spring Comes In” (first introduced to us in 2019 but not well known by everyone) was tried again, and once the structure of the tune and verses became clear it was enjoyed by all.  

After a break we resumed with “The Song of the Sussex Downsman", sung, with Angela’s encouragement, at a spritely pace to good effect!  “Run of the Downs” followed, with some debate afterwards about possible ways to condense the verses and reduce the number of choruses, but without disrupting the song’s conclusion - a conversation to be revisited and extended to include singers in our other two local groups.  We moved on to “The Turtle Dove” and by request another gentle song: “The Fields Lie Silent”.   "Brisk Young Ploughboy”, with brief uncertainty about the tune, was the last but one song we sang before finishing with our old favourite “Thousands or More”.  

With the Spring now firmly in mind and more springtime songs likely in the mix for next month’s session - we look forward to singing at The Barn again on March 9th!