Mellstock Band perform The Leaves of Life - Riverhouse Barn Walton on Thames, England 2011-12-07 Hi-MD SP master FLAC

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THE MELLSTOCK BAND take their name from the works of Thomas Hardy, who gave this fictional title to the singers and musicians of the parish of Stinsford, where his father and grandfather were prominent in leading the dancing, carolling, merrymaking and church singing, and where the young Thomas Hardy played his fiddle for weddings and parties.

With their authentic instruments and songs they have performed all over England, and taken their music to Europe, Africa and America. They have also appeared in productions for film, television, radio and theatre, most notably in the BBC’s adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

The fiddle and concertina are both known to have been played by Hardy himself. He often mentions clarinet, flute and oboe, and The Mellstock Band play the versions of these instruments that would have been current in Hardy’s time. The Band also includes the “rich, deep note” of the serpent, a baffling hybrid of brass and woodwind, easily recognised by its snake-like shape. The unique blend of these tones, combined with the forceful singing of the band, creates afresh the vigour, richness and excitement of English village band music.

In this Christmas show, the Mellstock Band combine the symbolism of trees, feasting and revelry of winter-time, and strange visitations.

The Leaves of Life also explores some of the beliefs and superstitions that surround mid-winter festivities, drawing on seasonal ballads and folk carols as well as west gallery music and village band tunes.



01 Introduction/tuning
02 The Persian Dance/The Waterloo Dance
03 A letter from Florence Hardy to Sydney Cockerell
04 The Leaves of Life (Traditional, Shropshire)
05 The Holly and the Ivy (Traditional)
06 Tuktide in a Younger World (Poem by Thomas Hardy)
07 The Bitter Withies (Traditional, Sussex)
08 William Dewey and the Bull (Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbemilks)
09 While Shepherds Watch'd (Hardy MSS.)
10 The Roast Beef of Old England/Two or Three Strings to my Bow (Traditional)
11 Herrmston (Poem by William Barnes)
12 Away Dark Thoughts (Lake Ms., West Monkton)
13 Bob Cratchit's Christmas Dinner (Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol)
14 The Christmas Goose (Broadside ballad, set to a Dorset tune)
15 The Fiddler Knows (Poem by Thomas Hardy)
16 Enrico and Dribbles of Brandy (Hardy MSS.)
17 The Battle of Swan Bridge (Dorset County Chronicle, Jan. 17th & 24th, 1828) The 18 Treadmill Song (Trad. Dorset)
19 Father Christmas visits a Village School (Jack Rice, Dartmoor)
20 The Christmas Tree (A Festival of Village Carols, transcribed and arranged from the
Mount-Dawson Mss. by lan Russell)
21 The Christmas Invitation (Poem by William Barnes)
22 Sadler's Balloon and Archer's Dance (John Clare MSS)
23 Applause
24 Banter
25 Soldiers Joy/The fairy dance
26 Outro



The Mellstock Band

Dave Townsend Concertina/voice
Tim Hill Clarinets/voice
Pete Cooper Violin/voice
Phil Humphries Serpent/voice