I am pleased to report a slight upturn in the situation this month. 7 apologies from singers - some finishing off the tail end of family festivities in Manchester and Somerset, others not wishing to face the icy Sussex roads, and a new singer who had expressed interest but was ill on the day. On the plus side, the pub had us in the diary so we had the whole of the Lewes Room to ourselves (hurrah).
6 singers, with Margaret and I again keeping up the female side, started with “Here we come a Wassailing”, “Hey Ho Winter Snow”, “The Holly and the Ivy” (to the folkie tune), “One for the Rook”, “Shepherds Arise” (a newer one to try for next year, we’ve sung this a few times now and like it), “Wake ye Shepherds” (another new one, which we managed successfully in 2 part harmony), “Wassail Wassail all over the Town”, “Sugar (Sussex) Wassail).
In the break we discussed possible new venues and items from the last committee. This included the singers’ survey which I had forgotten to circulate, but our views during recent discussions had matched the findings of wanting to continue with large and small events, formal and informal, and spread across the West, Central and East areas; CD (on hold); Twitter (continue at present); importance of singers attending practice sessions before coming to live performances. No volunteers came forward for the next Committee on 31st March so I will attend but would welcome 1 or 2 other Lewes reps.
Ray gave us “The Blank Sheet” a wry poem regarding New Year’s resolutions. We then continued with “Apple Tree Wassailing Song”, “Wassail the Silver Apple" (not a South Downs song but pretty and unusual)” , “Wassail all Your Apple Trees" (a round in 4 parts) “Seasons Turn”, and “I Heard a Bird Sing” before ending with “Parting Song”.
We made a creditable sound with a small number but here’s hoping that for February we might be back to normal with a few more to swell the sound, and Jan has agreed to write this report in future so thanks to her too!
Tina
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