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The 'Folk Music of England' has a long history. The United Kingdom, like most European countries, underwent a roots revival in the last half of the 20th century. English music has been an instrumental and leading part of this phenomenon, which peaked at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

Contents

History

16th to 17th centuries

English Madrigal School

18th century

19th century

20th century

First half

The fifties

The modern period

Regional

Morris dancing

Broadside ballads

Sussex

Yorkshire

East Anglia

Northumbrian folk

Pipes

West Country

Sea shanties

See also

References

History

Little survives of the early music of England, by which is meant the music that was used by the people before the establishment of musical notation in the medieval period. Some surviving folk music may have had its origins in this period, although the melodies played by morris dancers and other traditional groups can also be from a later period.
Some of the earliest music to remain is either church music, or else is in the form of carols or ballads dating from the 16th century or earlier. Troubadours carried an international courtly style across Western Europe. It was common in times before copyright for melodies to be interchangeable, and the same melodies have often been used (with differing words) for secular and religious purposes. Melodies like those of the Sussex Carol or Greensleeves have had a long history of eclectic use over the centuries.
During the 15th century, a vigorous tradition of polyphony developed in England, as exemplified in the music of composers such as Leonel Power, John Dunstaple and Robert Fayrfax. The music of this school was famous on the continent, and occasionally rivalled the music of the contemporary Burgundian school in expressiveness and renown; indeed Dunstaple is recognized as one of the strongest influences on the early development of the music of the Burgundians. Unfortunately, however, the vast majority of English music manuscripts from this period were destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries carried out by Henry VIII in the late 1530s; only a few isolated survivals remain, including the Old Hall Manuscript, the Eton Choirbook, the Winchester Troper, and a handful of scattered sources from the continent.

16th to 17th centuries

With the growth in wealth and leisure-time for the noble classes, tastes in music began to diverge sharply. While in the early part of the period it was possible for tavern songs like ''Pastime with Good Company'' to be written by King Henry VIII, by the middle 16th century there were distinct styles of music enjoyed by the differing social classes. Renaissance influences made the acquisition of musical knowledge an almost essential attribute for the nobleman and woman, and the ability to play an instrument became an almost mandatory social grace.
The Renaissance influence also internationalised courtly music in terms of both instruments and content: the lute, dulcimer and early forms of the harpsichord were played; ballads and madrigals were sung; the pavane and galliard were danced. Henry Purcell became court composer to King Charles II and wrote incidental music to plays and events.
For other social classes instruments like the pipe, tabor, bagpipe, shawm, hurdy gurdy and crumhorn accompanied folk music and community dance. The fiddle gradually grew in popularity. Differing regional styles of folk music developed in geographically separated areas such as Northumbria, London and the West Country.

English Madrigal School

''Main article: English Madrigal School''
From about 1588 to 1627, a group of composers known as the ''English Madrigal School'' became well known in England and abroad. These madrigalists composed light a cappella songs for three to six voices, originally based on Italian models. The School began when Nicholas Yonge published ''Musica transalpina'' in 1588, using poetic forms like the sonnet and inspired by the work of Alfonso Ferrabosco, an Italian composer in Elizabeth I's court.

18th century

As courtly music grew more elaborate and internationalised, with composers such as Handel (who was actually born in Germany) and Mozart, writing operas, oratorios and symphonic works, an English musician called John Gay produced ''The Beggar's Opera'', a revolutionary popular opera which used English folk forms.

19th century

With the Industrial Revolution came a parallel revolution in English popular music as people moved from stable agrarian communities into the growing industrial centres and the rise of the brass band in the North of England. Folk music went through a rapid series of transformations as different regional idioms came together and reformed themselves into the first universally acceptable and commercial popular music. This change began first in the alehouses and later in what became known as the music hall. Music hall became the dominant form of English popular music for over a century from its birth in the 1850s. While folk music continued to enjoy popularity in the countryside, it was replaced for the majority by the new forms. Michael Balfe wrote opera, and Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote oratorios, orchestral works, a series of highly popular comic operas (with W. S. Gilbert), and numerous hymns and songs. At the end of the century, musical comedy and songs from musicals became popular, especially those of Lionel Monckton and Sidney Jones.
Also at the end of the century and into the early years of the 20th was a period when composers and musicologists took an unprecedented interest in collecting the music of the common people; recording and transcribing songs hitherto passed down from earlier generations only by ear, and occasionally arranging them for performance. Major figures in this movement were Cecil Sharp (who in 1911 founded the English Folk Dance Society, which later merged with the 1898 Folk Song Society to form the English Folk Dance and Song Society), Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth, Gustav Holst, Percy Grainger and Frederick Delius. These composers' art music is frequently tinged with the sounds and cadences of English folk music, even where the melodies are freely composed and are not arrangements of pre-existing folk tunes.

20th century

First half

Edward Elgar was a dominant classical composer of the early part of the century. English tastes also tended towards light classical composers such as Edward German, Albert Ketèlbey and Eric Coates, whose music was spread by the new medium of radio. Operetta and musical comedy were very popular forms in this period, and leading English composers included the aforementioned Monckton and Jones, and Ivor Novello, Noel Coward and Noel Gay.
Radio also played a part in the increasing popularity of big band dance music, popularised by the orchestras of Geraldo, Ambrose, Henry Hall and Billy Cotton, and singers like Al Bowlly, and Jack Buchanan.
Popular singers in the music hall idiom included, Marie Lloyd, Vesta Tilley, George Formby, Flanagan and Allen and Gracie Fields. With the advent of World War II, the taste for a more reflective and romantic style of music was led by singers like Anne Shelton and Vera Lynn.

The fifties

From the premiere of ''Peter Grimes'' in 1945 until his death in 1976, Benjamin Britten was recognised as the pre-eminent English composer of classical music and especially opera. Another towering figure in the classical world was Sir Michael Tippett.
A significant factor in the early growth of folk clubs was Topic Records. A. L. Lloyd wrote many of the sleeve notes for the records for the next 20 years and sang on several of their albums. Ewan MacColl toured widely in England, and recorded many of the Child Ballads. Collet's Record Shop in New Oxford Street, London was the best place to find folk records and magazines. From the mid-fifties skiffle and rock and roll songs began to be home-produced by English performers.

The modern period

In the 60s and 70s, England was in a state of social upheaval as a counterculture developed, from which came an explosion of American blues-derived musical innovation as well as a revival of English folk music, inspired by pioneering artists like the Copper Family. There was mixing between the two groups, with bands like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span pioneering an electric folk fusion. Nic Jones, Davy Graham, Roy Harper, Ralph McTell, June Tabor, Shirley Collins, John Renbourn and John Kirkpatrick were among those who balanced innovation with tradition, and criticized the worst excesses of folk-rock. When Martin Carthy "plugged in" in 1971, the English traditional scene erupted in an uproar of criticism. Ashley Hutchings and Dave Pegg had been earlier innovators of the fusion, and Hutchings helped propel Fairport Convention into the star position of the English electric folk scene, starting with the album ''What We Did On Our Holidays''. Arguably the most successful of the electric folk genre is Steeleye Span, a band fronted by Maddy Prior and which continues to perform some 36 years after forming.
The seventies were probably the heydays for Folk Music Publications. The popularity of English folk declined in the later 1970s, however, losing ground to glam rock, disco, punk rock, heavy metal and lovers rock. In the mid-1980s a new rebirth began, this time fusing folk forms with energy and political aggression derived from punk rock. Leaders included The Men They Couldn't Hang, Oyster Band, Billy Bragg and The Pogues. Folk-dance music also became popular in the 80s, with the English Country Blues Band and Tiger Moth. Later in the decade, reggae influenced English country music due to the work of Edward II & the Red Hot Polkas, especially on their seminal ''Let's Polkasteady'' from 1987. In the 21st century, Oxford produced a young duo, Spiers and Boden.

Regional

Morris dancing

Morris dancing is an ancient form of music and dance, performed by men and women in distinctive clothing. The practice is complex, and regulated by the Morris Federation and Morris Ring, the unofficial governing bodies of morris dancing.

Broadside ballads

Broadside ballads were a form of popular music in England from the 16th century to the early 20th century. They were purchased on street corners for a small amount and performed at home and at fairs and other gatherings.

Sussex

Sussex's traditions are best known from the mid-20th century performer Scan Tester and, perhaps the biggest stars of the English revival's predecessors, the Copper Family. Shirley Collins is from Sussex and retains her local accent.

Yorkshire

Yorkshire's Waterson family, especially Norma Waterson, is a long-running institution that incorporates influences from the area.

East Anglia

Though East Anglian folk has not played a major part in the British roots revival, two major singers have emerged from the area to help inspire it: Sam Larner and Harry Cox. More modern performers include Peter Bellamy's mid-1970s revival of Norfolk's folk traditions, especially pioneer Walter Pardon.

Northumbrian folk

Main articles: Music of Northumbria

Northumbria, at the northern edge of England bordering on Scotland across the River Tweed, has the most vital traditional music of England, with a strong scene and some mainstream success. Indeed Newcastle University offered the first performance-based degree programme in folk and traditional music in England and Wales.[1] Many of the most popular traditional songs of today were written by legendary composers like Tommy Armstrong in the late 19th century. In contrast to much of England, Northumbria retains a strong Scots influence in the music.
Northumbria is known for its long history of border ballads, such as ''The Ballad of Chevy Chase'', and dances, including social ones like the Elsdon Reel and others, like rapper dancing and Northumbrian clog dancing, more typically seen in concert halls.

Pipes

Northumbrian folk is most characterised by the use of Northumbrian smallpipes as well as a strong Scottish influence for natural reasons of proximity. Northumbrian pipes are small and elbow-driven and the music is traditionally very swift and rhythmic. Another distinct form of Northumbrian pipe is called the "half-long" or "border" pipe. Perhaps the most important of the old masters of the pipes is Billy Pigg. Drawing on these pioneers, popularisers like Louis Killen, The High Level Ranters and Bob Davenport brought Northumbrian folk to international audiences, while Jack the Lad, Hedgehog Pie and Lindisfarne used regional sources for folk-rock fusions.
Northumbrian pipe music has seen a recent revival due to the touring of artists like Kathryn Tickell, and uses in songs by artists such as Sting. Many of the Shires of England had their own unique form of bagpipe; some mouth blown and others bellows blown, like the Northumbrian smallpipes, the Cornish bagpipes, the Lancashire great-pipe and the ancestor of the Uilleann pipes, the pastoral pipes. Unfortunately, many local variants of pipe have ceased to exist, such as Lincoln pipes, and we shall never know how these looked and sounded.

West Country

The West Country, particularly Devon and Cornwall, has one of the most prominent musical traditions in England. The West Country style is most easily characterised by its penchant for wet-tuned accordions, whereas in most parts of southern England the melodeon is the preferred instrument. The West Country has produced many famous traditional singers such as Amy Birch and Sophie Legg and musicians such as Bob Cann of Dartmoor and Charlie Bate from Cornwall.
This is the music and dance which travelled to the New World and gave rise to the American line dances.
In the 1970s the West Country became noted for its Scrumpy and Western music, invented by bands such as the Wurzels and The Yetties, much of it fusing comical folk-style songs with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, but delivered in the local West Country dialects.
The Cornwall Fiddle Orchestrais a large group of string players playing traditional fiddle tunes from the Celtic nations – Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany. Their musical director, Hudson Swan, was an original member of Scots traditional band, The Tannahill Weavers.

Sea shanties

Sea shanties are a form of work song traditionally sung by sailors working on the rigging of ships. There are several types, divided based on the type of work they set the rhythmic base for. For example:

★ short haul shanties: for quick pulls over a short time

★ capstan shanties: for repetitive, longer tasks that require a sustained rhythm

★ halyard shanties: for heavier work that requires more time between pulls to set up

See also

★ English cadence

★ The Wurzels.com - Traditional West Country Music. Albums, Gigs, Song lyrics, Video, Forum & more.

References

★ Irwin, Colin. "England's Changing Roots". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp 64-82. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

★ Mathieson, Kenny. "Wales, Isle of Man and England". 2001. In Mathieson, Kenny (Ed.), ''Celtic music'', pp. 88-95. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-623-8