The Barn hosted 40 of us, including a mix of singers from all three of our local groups (welcome all!) for a special session this month - our last with Emily there as our lead. Sad as this was, the evening was also a joyful exhibition of some of our favourite songs, our combined voices all but lifting the ancient rafters, and our pleasure in singing with Emily!
We began with Emily recalling her start with us as something of a raw recruit herself in the "South Downs Songs" project workshops - and with both Chris Hare (the Songs Project founder) and Ann Feloy (project song teacher) also present as very welcome guests for the evening, they all received a round of applause with due congratulation and thanks for the work they did in creating the project, running the workshops and teaching the songs; all of which provided the strong foundation from which the SDFS was built.
Emily then cited the 'training' CDs she still had from those days, with recordings made to support the teaching and learning in the workshops - and she suggested using a mix of a songs from these, learned by some of us in those early days, plus any other favourites we would like to sing during the evening.
Our singing started with one the earliest songs in our collection, and a much loved favourite - "Rosebuds in June", before "Shepherd of the Downs" and "Drink Me Brave Boys". Then came the "Smugglers Song", "The Nightingale", "Hard Times" and "The Sussex Wedding Song (Come Write Me Down". After inviting further choices, a couple of songs were proposed by singers which are favourites to some but not to others, provoking an exchange of light hearted disagreement. The first of these was "Eileen Aroon" - a song with Irish origins but nonetheless included in the South Downs Songs project because it was a favourite of one of Sussex's notable inhabitants - Hilaire Belloc. The other was "Cruel Mother" - a long and harrowing tale of its time describing the distress and plight of an unmarried mother and her newborns. Whilst acknowledging the nature of its content, Chris Hare reported it had been in the project because it is a very old song and the oldest documented song from the South Downs area found in preparations for the project. Although both of these have not been sung much by many of us since those early project workshop days, both were sung this evening - and sung well - which just shows how deeply songs and music can go in our hearts and minds and still be recalled from our memories years later.
Before taking a break we returned to another South Downs anthem well known and much used by us - another written by Belloc - "On Sussex Hills". Then in the break, with some extra refreshments provided to mark the occasion - time was taken to present Emily with some farewell gifts, and to share with her our gratitude for all she has done for the SDFS over the many years she has been with us - from the project workshops onwards, including the many events across Sussex at which she has led our singing, and especially for her leadership of the Worthing local group where we have been lucky to have her and to have prospered under her leadership since the workshops concluded. She will be a hard act to follow! Emily's words of thanks and reflection in reply carried with them a reminder of a very important ingredient - that whatever and whenever we sing, the experience for us, the words and meaning of the song, and the rendition received by listeners, will be enriched if we sing from our hearts. Wise words indeed.
So our singing resumed in time for a few more songs before the evening concluded. From a variety of requests made we sang, again to lift the rafters, "Country Life", "The Turmut Hoer" and "Life of a Man". Then last but by no means least, the great Copper's favourite "Thousands or More", which provided a glorious finish to a happy evening of song but also a sad farewell. Many thanks to Emily and All.
Our next evening at the Barn will be on Thursday September 3rd - with summer beginning to fade and seasons changing - and still plenty to sing about. If you are new to us but you'd like to join us to learn our songs by listening and singing with us, you'll be welcomed but please email to let us know before you attend.
H.
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