This blog is where I share resources from each Imaginary Song Hunt session, along with a Zoom video for anyone who wants to catch up. Use the ‘comments’ box below to share feedback, fun facts, or just  say hello!

And, if you enjoyed the session and these resources, feel free to: drop some pennies into the tip jar

27th March 2024:

Old English charm to make the fields fertile

In this session we tackled the Old English ritual known as Æcerbot (‘Field Remedy’), which was supposed to heal fields that were barren, perhaps as a result of witchcraft! We looked at one of the Old English metrical charms contained in the ritual, and experimented with different ways of whispering, reciting, and chanting it. The session includes an interview with Debby Banham on this fabulous text.

Slides from the session

Video

Full session, for anyone who’d like to catch up:

Further listening and reading

• Translations of the Æcerbot ritual and other OE metrical charms at The Old English Poetry Project.
• Translations, commentaries, and manuscript facsimiles: Old English Poetry in Facsimile Editions (look for ‘Charms’ in the dropdown menu on the left). The British Library Manuscripts page has been down for some time because of a cyber attack, so for now this is the only place to view the manuscript online.
• Fun blog, with an incredible amount of historical detail, on putting this ritual into practice, by Karen Louise Jolly.
• Article by Caroline R. Batten on the special metrical features of Old English charms.
• On patterns of recitation in Anglo-Saxon music, you can find more info in Sam Barrett’s Restoring Lost Songs project (especially his book, The Melodic Tradition of Boethius “De consolatione philosophiae” in the Middle Ages, Monumenta Monodica Subsidia Series VII, 2 vols., Bärenreiter, Kassel, 2013). See also: Hanna Marti’s video introduction to Orpheus: the Ovid Project. In a similar vein, Sequentia’s Monks Singing Pagans programme focused on classical texts in medieval song, and you can watch a video about the project (which sadly doesn’t exist as an album).
• If you’d like to listen to some highly entertaining sung versions of Old English and Old German charms, check out Sequentia’s Words of Power programme on YouTube.

From the Song Hunters…

Teresa made a link between the recitation of incantations and the amazing Sami ‘yoik’/’joik’ singing tradition, sharing this album: Folk Voices – Finnish Folk Song Through the Ages (Ondine, 1999). On the content, she notes:

• at 2:15 (track 1) call & response chant
• 3:40 (track 2) I think this is a yoik about stalking elk
• 11:32 (track 5) herding calls for cows
• 14:08 (track 6) Tulen synty -loitsu (a spell for starting/birthing a fire) parts are sotto voce, and others could probably be heard across the whole landscape!

And here’s a link to the pertinent Wikipedia article.

Thanks Teresa!

This blog is where I share resources from each Imaginary Song Hunt session, along with a Zoom video for anyone who wants to catch up. Feel free to use the ‘comments’ box below to share feedback, fun facts, or just to say hello!

If you enjoyed the session and these resources, feel free to: drop some pennies into the tip jar

17th January 2024:

January Folksong for Wronged Women

This session explored the Irish folksong ‘In the Month of January’ (also known as ‘The Fatal Snowstorm’ and ‘The Cruel Father’), which tells the story of a young woman who is seduced and made pregnant, then abandoned by (presumably much wealthier) young man, and is tragically cast out by her family as a result – not an uncommon theme in traditional song!

Slides from the session

I’ll embed the slideshow from every Hunt here, with some extra clickable links.

Video

Full session, for anyone who’d like to catch up:

New performance video (currently unlisted; to be released online 24 Jan):

Scores

You’re welcome to use this score for your own performances, but please just credit me if you do so (and let me know, in case I can come and listen 🙂). I am always grateful for feedback on my scores!

In the Month of January – 2024

Further listening

Nice recordings of the song by currently active singers (click to open Spotify tracks):

• June Tabor
• The Unthanks
• Siobhan Miller
• Josienne Clarke
• Jon Boden (part of his ‘Folksong a Day’ blog; scroll down for a really interesting discussion in the comments): read the blog and hear the song here

Recordings by so-called ‘source’ singers:

• Paddy Tunney
• Sarah Makem

From the Song Hunters…

You might remember Stella Richardson giving some nice listening suggestions at the end of the session. She pointed out some parallels with the song ‘Henry the Poacher’, which she and Tony had heard sung by The Young Tradition. There are some melodic similarities, as well as a few lyrical formulas that pop up in both songs, but this one is a tragedy from the perspective of a young man, transported for poaching. It’s a subject close to my heart, since my mum’s amazing family tree research revealed that this was the fate of lots of my ancestors! We haven’t found that particular recording online, but here’s another nice one (sourced by Tony):

And by another ‘source’ singer, Harry Cox, whose singing has been a big influence on me (I’ve made arrangements of his songs for my choir).

Any other folky parallels spring to mind? Floating verses? Similar stories? Please do share in the comments if so…

This blog is where I share resources from each Imaginary Song Hunt session, along with an edited Zoom video for anyone who wants to catch up. Feel free to use the ‘comments’ box below to share feedback, fun facts, or just to say hello!

🪙🏺 If you enjoyed the session and these resources, feel free to: dicere gratiam donare pecuniam 🏺🪙

Preview event, 6th December 2023:

Ancient Harmonies for Saint Nicholas

In this special preview event, we dipped into a few pieces of music from different periods, to get a flavour of the kinds of things the song hunt will explore when it starts in the New Year. We looked at the earliest known Christian song, the Oxyrhynchus Hymn, skimmed over medieval chant for Saint Nicholas, and learned St Godric of Finchale’s song for Saint Nicholas, one of the three oldest songs in English for which notation has survived. We also looked at medieval techniques for making two-part harmonies.

Slides from the session

I’ll embed the slideshow from every Hunt here, with some extra clickable links. For image information, click any of the pictures to visit the online source.

Video

Full session, for anyone who’d like to catch up:

New performance video (due to go online in a couple of weeks):

Scores

You’re welcome to use this score for your own performances, but please just credit me if you do so (and let me know, in case I can come and listen 🙂).

Sainte Nicholaes, 2- or 3-part arrangement

Further listening

The Saint Nicholas Centre has a comprehensive discography and resource list for medieval music devoted to Saint Nicholas, so rather than try to make my own, I’ll simply direct you to this link: medieval music and plays for Saint Nicholas.

But here’s a particularly fabulous recording of Godric’s songs, by Sequentia, using the kinds of organum techniques we discussed in the session:

From the Song Hunters…

Mille gratias to Helen Wellen for the dorkiest meme in the whole history of the internet: