The Mellstock Band return to Edington Priory Church on Saturday 26th November to give a rambunctious concert of rural Christmas music from Thomas Hardy’s Wessex and a Gallery Carols workshop in Bratton during the afternoon.
The show is built around the descriptions of Christmas festivities in the works of Thomas Hardy and his friend, the Dorset dialect poet William Barnes. As always the band perform in period costume, with village band instruments of the nineteenth century including fiddle, concertina and serpent.
The programme consists of West Gallery carols, harmony songs and rousing dance music, all linked together with spoken extracts, and incorporating a Dorset Mummers’ Play.
The Gallery Carols Workshop from 2.30- 5.30pm at Bratton Church Institute will be given by Dave Townsend, who plays concertina and fiddle and sings, and who has been a leading light in the rediscovery and teaching of this old tradition. These carols are a fascinating window on rural church music of the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and will be easy to learn – Cathedral music they are not! The workshop is open to everyone, and there is a special deal for those who do the workshop and go to the concert.
Workshop places are £10; concert tickets are £15, but £10 if you do the workshop as well. For information and to buy your concert and workshop tickets, phone Maggie Atterbury on 01380 830452 or email her at jmda1@btinternet.com
