[N]ow Then: The Gladly Solemn Sound choir are to perform West Gallery music (also known as Georgian psalmody) in Martindale’s ancient and atmospheric St Martin’s ‘Old’ Church.
The Gladly Solemn Sound choir, formed in Lancaster in 1992, sings West Gallery Music: the all but forgotten rural church music of the 18th and early 19th centuries. At that time, most small churches were organ-less and their choirs were led by fiddles, clarinets, cellos, bassoons etc – music florid and lively, rhythmically energetic, delighting in earthy (sometimes unorthodox) harmonies and simple polyphony.
Victorian reformers disliked the style preferring the more decorous ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’, sung by children’s choirs, to organ or harmonium accompaniment. The choir’s repertoire consists mostly of English metrical psalm settings, anthems and carols, often taken directly from local manuscript sources.
On the south-eastern shore of Ullswater, the parish of Martindale is a secluded and peaceful gem. Nestled in a remote valley it is accessed from Howtown via a steeply ascending single track road with hair pin bends known as Hallin Hause.
The ‘new’ church of St Peter, built in the 1880’s, stands at the top of Martindale Hause, a short walk away from Hallin Fell, with its magnificent views of the lake. Martindale is the home of the oldest herd of wild red deer in England; the only pure red deer blood-stock in the country, with no Sika cross-breeding. They are most likely to be seen in the area of the Nab in the Howegrain and Bannerdale valleys and towards High Street. The area is also home to semi-wild fell ponies.
St Martin’s Church (Martindale ’Old’ Church) is a very special place, atmospheric and meditative, its visitors’ book reflects the significance that the church has had in the lives of those who have worshipped or visited there. Dedicated to St Martin of Tours, it lies half mile up the valley from St Peter’s Church. The first reference of a church being on the site is in 1220.
The present building is a simple single chamber, constructed in 1634 of stone. Despite successive restorations to the present building – the last being in 1882 when the roof was replaced following violent storms – it is essentially as it was in the 17th century. A Roman font, reputed to have originated from a wayside shrine at High Street at the top of the fells, was originally a standing stone said to be at least 1700 years old. At one time it was used by local residents to sharpen tools, but was later hollowed out to be used as a font.
Marks from the tool sharpening are still visible. The benches and the pulpit date from the 17th century, as does the table, inscribed with the date 1674, which serves as an simply laid altar, which is simply laid with a wooden crucifix and candlesticks. The flagstoned floor was laid in 1724 to cover a dirt floor, its bell is some 500 years old, and its windows are plain. The churchyard contains a Yew Tree estimated to be 1300 years old; documents in the church state the men of Martindale, who were famous as bowmen, used the tree and others in the district to replenish their arms.
Artist Russell Mills and his musical collaborator Mike Fearon will be working with filmmaker Charlie Leek, recording and filming the The Gladly Solemn Sound choir perform.
The concert will include a rare performance of the poignant funeral hymn My Life’s A Shade (1753), with music by William Knapp (1698-1768). This is the piece of music that partly inspired Mills’ ideas for the Now Then multimedia installation, which was staged at the ArtWorks, Shaw Lodge Mills, Halifax in 2015. The recordings will be integrated into the final mixes of the Now Then soundwork tracks for release in the sixth in the series of limited edition full colour books with CDs titled Still Moves*.
*Still Moves is an ongoing series of limited edition, A5 full colour hardback books, each containing two CDs, charting the evolution of the numerous site-specific multimedia installations made by artist Russell Mills and musical collaborator Mike Fearon since 1994 for venues in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Japan.
Saturday 15th July, 2.30 pm at St Martin’s Old Church, Martindale, Cumbria, CA10 2NF
Free entry, with a retiring collection for the church.
