For many reasons traditional English village carols have eluded significant study. As Ian Russell suggests, they fall between the cracks. The composers were mostly from the artisan class – tradesmen such as tanners, tailors, carpenters and metal workers. Russell quotes the terse biography of one of the composers, John Hall of Sheffield Park (d. 1794): ‘worked at the anvil and died in the poorhouse’. These compositions are primitive, continually ‘breaking the rules’ of musical establishment. (For North Americans, it is helpful to compare these to what we find in Appalachian tune books such as Sacred Harp.) Yet the very fact that these songs are multipart (that is, set in two-, three- or four-voice parts) has caused them to be overlooked by musicologists who have studied and documented folksong. Russell points out that Ralph Vaughan Williams, in his field study of English folksong, dismissed the repertoire of these village carollers because they were rendered as compositions (i.e. multipart) rather than a single melody line.
Not only compositionally, but also functionally, this repertoire defies classification. These carols are not church music per se. The established church rejected this musical style in deference to organs and cultivated choirs and choral repertoire. Yet despite this friction – perhaps because of it – the practice of village carolling endured as a para-church activity. As such, this repertoire and practice seems to have been passed over by church historians and liturgical musicologists as being outside their purview. Ethnomusicologists similarly may have shelved these ‘hymns’ as matters for study by ecclesiastics. In the scholarly world, it would seem this repertoire is in ‘no man's land’.
Most of the ink in these books takes the form of musical notation. These are transcriptions by Russell derived from recordings of performances but also informed by extant local manuscripts. Often these manuscripts were held by families and guarded jealously. For instance, manuscripts from Foolow were produced by Emily Redfearn (1889–1983) who kept them in a small suitcase which had been passed down to her through the generations.
This is the first time that these manuscripts have been collected, transcribed and published. The two volumes are important not only as historical artifacts, but also as functional repertoire for contemporary use. One can find on the internet videos of local communities singing lustily from Russell's books, a testament to an enduring tradition. But the volumes will also bear fruit outside of their original contexts. In my North American context I can imagine exploring these songs in the contexts of choral concerts in much the same way we explore a South African freedom song, a Japanese gagaku mode, or a negro spiritual. This is world music.
Similar to their Appalachian counterparts, many of these carols break into bold fuguing tunes at the end of the verse. The Sheffield book also includes instrumental accompaniments and interludes to be played by ‘the band’. This is much more than a doubling of the vocal parts. These ‘fiddle’ parts are wonderfully idiomatic and charming. Some of the tunes, such as LYNGHAM and YORKSHIRE, are known in my North American context. The instrumental parts are a wonderful resource for accompanying choral singing in concert as well as congregational singing in the church. And if you would entertain an alternative way to sing, ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’, this Christmas, between the two volumes you are supplied with twenty-one unique options.
All of this music is framed by scholarly introductions and endnotes. Russell provides facsimiles, insightful analysis of the primary sources, and descriptions of historical and contemporary performance practice. He maps out the regions and describes how these carols were and continue to be performed in pubs, chapels, home and on the road. In the Derbyshire book he gives thoughtful consideration to each village and then arranges the carols according to the villages from which they were collected. It turns out to be an extremely helpful way to study and appreciate the literature.
Russell's work is timely. Though cherished for generations, one cannot assume that these hidden manuscripts and aural memories would otherwise survive. Beyond the need for preservation, this music proves to be a vibrant contemporary carrier of culture and faith. Its genesis was somewhere between the church and secular culture. It seems that this is precisely the place where these carols will flourish today.
