Old & New Cornish Christmas Carols
Cornish Carols - A Tradition For The World
A
Carol for Cornwall
In September 2006, the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and BBC Radio Cornwall launched a “Write a New Cornish Carol Competition” as part of the WHS Cultural Programme’s celebration of Cornish carols. The aim was to get people singing the old carols and to encourage the writing of new ones for Christmas 2006. The competition was organised by the Cornwall Art Centre Trust and there were categories for children aged 11 and under, young people of 18 and under, and an adult section. The entries were judged by the composer Jim Carey, the poet Bert Biscoe, and David Frost of Cornwall County Council Music Service. The standard of entries was extremely high, and the winners from each category were:
Tom
Bassett, (under 18 section), currently a student at Birmingham Music
Conservatoire The judges said of his carol “a challenging piece of work – one of the entries in the
competition which generally tested creative boundaries”.
Christine Jones (adult section) with “Hallelujah” – a strong piece with popular appeal, a clear resonance of Brittany and lyrically a re-working of the Christian story. The tune had a dance like feel with good potential for arrangement in a Celtic mode.
In
the under 12 section the overall winners
Ella Whiteman and Joanne Dallimore, both aged 10, from St Just in Penwith
primary school. Ella and Joanne said is was the first music composition they had
ever done. Their music teacher, Lindsay Eddy, was thrilled, ‘we're very
excited about the winning carol entry...... What is even more appropriate” she
said “is that the children used a new software programme from the Cornish
company Topologika we purchased recently to help with the composition”.
On Friday 17th November over 200 children from 7 schools in Cornwall attended a Schools Day in St Just in Penwith Wesleyan Church. The children learnt and recorded several carols including the new Cornish carol written by Ella Whiteman and Joanne Dallimore of St Just Primary school, who won the World Heritage Site/BBC Radio Cornwall ‘Write a New Cornish Carol competition. Paul Wilson of the Wren Trust in Devon gave a superb couple of sessions teaching the carols helped by Cornish speakers George Ansell and Jill Warden, and they also had a wassailing demonstration with Bodmin Wassailer Peter Marlow.
The children then performed carols at an evening concert accompanied by Cornwall Youth Brass where the winning carol arranged by David Frost was performed. The Grand Bard Vanessa Beeman presented Ella and Joanne with their prizes. The children also enjoyed the contrast with Black Voices, who taught the them a traditional Zulu song, which they performed together at the concert in the evening,
On the following day Saturday 18th November over 100 participants took part in the all day Come and Sing Cornish Carols workshop, which took place in Redruth Methodist Chapel and Memorial Hall. Black Voices began the day followed by the Bodmin Wassailers and then Frances Bennett of CUMPAS rehearsed two carols, including one written by Christine Jones of Truro Choral Society. Dr Richard McGrady gave a well attended talk on the Ballad Carols of Davies Gilbert and William Sandys and then Mike O’Connor and Peter Meanwell led afternoon sessions with the Washaway West Gallery Choir tradition, the Stratton, Padstow, and finally Steve Lawler, Music Director of Mousehole Male Voice Choir took us through some Merritt carols.
BBC
Radio Cornwall are planning to include the new carol in their recording of their
Christmas Carol Concert in Truro Cathedral on 11th December for broadcast on
Christmas Day
Tim Smithies.
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Federation of Old Cornwall Societies
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