Giving life to the community - Maypole dance to traditional English musicians:

Artist: Mark Taylor

Ask the person on the street where the home of folk music is and theres a very
strong chance they will point to Scotland, Ireland, or America. In fact the person on
the street will pretty much site anywhere else in the world before recognising that
England has a traditional music heritage that runs just as deep as any of our Scots
Irish or Welsh neighbours.

Sadly, for the past 40 years, the perception of folk music in England has been
tarnished by unfavourable opinions; not of the music itself, but of an archetypal
image of the people who may perform folk music. A bearded man, clad in an Aaron
sweater, finger in ear and singing through his nose, may be a clich, but over the
years, its an image thats encouraged many to disinherit themselves from their
own musical heritage. From the end of the nineteen fifties there were undeniably
enough folkies in the clubs who adopted that much maligned look, to justify the
lampooning of folk music and its stereo typical performer. The folk music being
performed in the clubs and gatherings during the fifties was most often a revivalist
interpretation of indigenous traditional English folk music that was still to be found
surviving within the villages of rural England, as well as the industrial working class
areas of the country, including fishing and mining communities.
The mid twentieth century saw a burgeoning new wave of young traditional English
folk music enthusiasts who had been caught first by an American folk music revival,
which carried with it a left wing undercurrent. Championing this movement was the
American singer/musician, Pete Segar. This was traditional music driven by a
socialist and communist ideology. For these were the songs of the common man and
so for one element of the traditional English folk movement, it was the perfect
marriage for socio- political expression.
The figurehead in England ploughing a similar furrow was Ewan MacColl. He was
tracked by MI5 for over 20 years on the grounds that he was a dangerous
communist radical. His interest in drama production and theatre workshops spilled
over into an affected way of performing folk songs. His style was indeed the finger
cupped around the ear, the jumper, the beard and he was wont to sing sat down on
a reversed chair. This style was far removed from the true traditional English folk
singers (also referred to as source singers) who in contrast, would typically sing a
song simply and directly, sometimes with eyes shut, sometimes seeming detached
from the words being sung. It could appear that the singer was acting purely as a
conduit for a story set to music. They would carry an air of responsibility in their
delivery, not only to the song, but to those long gone who had sung the song
before; a trait which no doubt had its roots in our ancient oral tradition.
In the sixties and seventies, traditional English folk music was expanded and
expressed in a variety of ways including jazz flavoured folk, rock enhanced folk and
progressive avant-garde folk. Even Led Zeppelin fans were proud to point out that
far from being out and out rockers; the band also drew on their native folk heritage.
In the 1970s, the folk group, The Spinners ran a BBC TV series which presented folk
music in a light entertainment format. Their popular shows succeeded in as much as
they brought folk music into living rooms all over the country, but many a purist felt
they fell short of delivering the full spectrum of traditional music.

All the while the original source singers, fiddlers, dulcimer players, melodeon and
concertina players, were a disappearing generation, whose local pubs had now
given way to juke boxes. Where once an impromptu ditty would strike up or a
drinker down his pint, and begin to step dance; now pubs resounded to the sound of
one armed bandits. Traditional live music was being replaced by juke boxes playing
rock n roll; a sound alien to the generation born in the century before. For the first
time teenagers had their own music as well as their own fashion. The pull for
youngsters to leave behind the music of former generations was great.
Ralph Vaughan Williams researched, noted and even recorded (on wax cylinder) folk
songs across the south of England and today at Cecil Sharp House; the Vaughn
Williams Library contains the most important concentration of material on English
traditional song, dance, and music in the country
Below are two examples of wax recordings. David Penfold from Rusper in Sussex, is
here recorded in May 1907, singing a song called The Trees they do Grow High and
the other song is sung by Peter Verrall, Monks Gate, Sussex, recorded in April 1907,
singing the Rambling Sailor. Both were recorded by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Allowances have to be made for the quality of these primitive recordings as they are
over 100 years old.
Ralph Vaughn Williams used a number of folk songs he had recorded, as inspiration
for classical compositions. A fine example being the hymn To Be a Pilgrim. The
original melody originating from the folk song Our Captain Calls All Hands which he
heard sung by Mrs Verrall from Monks Gate, Sussex. And so the folk song and music
of Sussex and other parts of England continued to be discovered and recorded as
with the discovery of Henry Burstow in Horsham and his astounding folk song
repertoire of over 400 songs. All of which he could sing at the drop of a hat.

Henry Burstow 1826-1916

As for folk music today; thankfully a new wave of folk musician in England is finally
taking the attention away from the stereo typical bearded folkie.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOSNIAN AND ENGLAND MUSIC .

- Their music is based more by classical music than our, because almost all our
songs are about falling in love and loving your country- Bosnia.
- When they sing folk music, they also have special clothes. For an example we can
use ( Scotland) we all know how their clothes look like.
- Almost every person needs to know their songs, dances, but in Bosnia, its not like
that.
- Even now, they always listen folk songs and you can see on their movies. Theyre
always saying:
We need to respect history of our country, we cant forget our people so we need
to know all these songs . Everyone . Thats our culture .