Showing posts with label Folk Songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Folk Songs. Show all posts

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Using folk music to discover who we are .......on the wireless today

This I think you should be interesting.


On Radio 4 today at 11.30.

"As a teenager, Zakia Sewell became entranced by English folk music, initially through Pentangle's haunting rendition of the traditional song, The Cuckoo.

But with this enchantment came a tension - a question - of whether such a song could really belong to her. Being of Caribbean and British descent, Zakia is sensitive to the darker histories that connect these two places and yet is drawn to a vision of Albion - an ancient, mythical land evoked in so many folk songs, symbols and stories.

Spiralling out from the personal to the national, from the present into the past - both real and imagined - Zakia grapples with the complexities of British national identity with the intent of resolving her own inner conflict and finding hopeful visions for the future.


With artist Ben Edge, musician Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and his mum Mignon, warden of Kilpeck Church, Hesketh Millais, members of Boss Morris - a feminist Morris Side - and Zakia's dad, Caspar.

Produced by Zakia Sewell and Alan Hall

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4".*

Pictures; Pictures; Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Mr. Higginbotham and men on the meadows, originally in the collection of the Higginbotham family and now part part of the Lloyd Collection

*The Cuckoo, My Albion Episode 1 of 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pffx

Saturday, 31 October 2020

Michael Morpurgo's Folk Journeys ...... Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye, on the wireless

Now I have never lost my love of folk songs, which I first came across nearly 60 years ago, and today they still speak with an authority and truth which can not be bettered.


So here is a short series which explores that folk tradition by Michael Morpurgo.

"The author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, Private Peaceful) explores the ways in which folk songs have reflected timeless human experiences, both in the past and today.

With help from singers, songwriters and other passionate experts, Michael admires the indelible stories within classic songs that deal with migration, war, protest and love.

Over the four themed episodes, Michael considers the locations and historical contexts that gave rise to much-loved traditional songs, and finds out how the same topics are inspiring new folk songs in the 2020s.


In the first episode, Michael considers a song about an injured man returning from war: Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye.

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4"*

Picture; The Battle of Culloden, David Morier, 1746

Next; In the second episode, Michael considers a song of protest: Four Loom Weaver.**

Michael Morpurgo's Folk Journeys ...... Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000nll9

**Loom Weaverhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nv5r