West Gallery Carols, St Mary’s Church, Puddletown

WEST Gallery Music, sung by village choirs in English country churches from the 18th century onwards, was overtaken by the innovations of organ and harmonium.

The accompanying musicians who played the fiddle, the cello and the serpent above the congregation might have been no more than a minor footnote in history, if it hadn’t been for this style of popular music being recorded by writers such as Thomas Hardy, the traditional music he knew as a boy, and the wonderful stories and poems in which he evoked the singers and musicians who performed it.

That music was once again brought vividly to life by Dorset singers and musicians in the second year of the Artsreach project to collect and perform West Gallery carols from the South Dorset Ridgeway area.

The inaugural Ridgeway carols project was one of the delights of Christmas 2013, with a series of workshops, culminating in two concerts with carols collected from the villages along the South Dorset Ridgeway.

It brought together local musicians and singers under the leadership of historian and musician Tim Laycock and musician Phil Humphries.

For the 2014 continuation of the programme, Tim and Phil moved a few miles east, concentrating on the Piddle valley and surrounding villages, and also working with local musicians to create two new West Gallery carols, which had their premiere at a sell-out concert at the ancient and beautiful St Mary’s Church at Puddletown.

Looking out over the crowded 400-year-old box pews and wooden balcony, Tim Laycock said that 200 years ago, the musicians would have been in the gallery, where Hardy’s father and grandfather had played the fiddle and cello in the early 1800s.

Two new Ridgeway carols, including One Bright Star, fitted effortlessly into the programme of traditional tunes and songs, reflecting the infectious rhythmic energy and deep connection to the land and the people.

Readings, including several from Hardy’s Under The Greenwood Tree and from his evocative poem The Paphian Ball, were also shared.

This concert was a joy from start to finish

  • There is another chance to hear a West Gallery style concert of carols, tunes and readings at St Swithun’s Church at North Allington, Bridport, on Sunday December 14 at 3.30pm. Contact Artsreach to book.

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