River’s Pride
Our “River’s Pride” show is on July 6th, 2018 at Discover Museum, Newcastle.
All the songs tell the story of a river or it’s reliant community or industry. Here is the final part of ‘Meet the Songs’…
Sing United!
Shenandoah (Trad) – based on the version by Sissel
Across the wide Missouri.
A song that has been covered multiple times by multiple artists that also has multiple theories about its origins and meaning. The most common explanation is that the singer has fallen in love with the daughter of Native Indian chief Shenandoah. Alternative theories have the singer longing for a place more than a person.
The song also has a long-running connection of being sung on ships, almost as a sea shanty. But not only that, in 1939 the legendary folklorist Alan Lomax documented a testimony that ‘Shenandoah” was a “logging song” that was sung in the spring each year by the logging men in the woods.
Whatever its true origins and explanations, there’s no doubt that the melody is steeped in an emotion that has attracted a huge number of performers to create their own interpretation. The Sing United arrangement is based on the stunningly beautiful version by Norwegian soprano Sissel.
Mark Deeks & Lara Brown – The Tyne Lives On (Gyrwe)
A very important aspect of Sing United is to create and nurture connections with the local community. After all, the ethos of Sing United is very much music with identity, and the people and the stories of the region are obviously a huge part of that.
One of the ways that I wanted to do that was to involve local schools with Sing United in a range of ways, to encourage music and creativity in local children however possible. Music and arts tuition is often one of the first things that loses out in times of financial “pruning” and as a proud North East musician who was lucky enough to get instrumental lessons and school support when I was a kid, I wanted to give something back.
For the Sing United: River’s Pride project, I’m really excited to announce that we will be giving something back in two ways:
Firstly, as the audience are arriving at the Discovery Museum for the River’s Pride concert on July 6th, we will be delighted to welcome a choir of boys from Stocksfield Avenue Primary School in Newcastle. They will be performing in the entrance way of the museum to provide a fantastic extra atmosphere to begin the evening. Not only that they will be singing songs based on the theme of the show as well and we can’t wait to hear and support them. I hope your friends and family can arrive in time to see them and give them some backing. This is community singing.
Secondly, we have also created a fantastic creative writing opportunity for another lucky pupil from a local school. Earlier this year, we invited local children to write a poem based on the themes of the River’s Pride project. Whether about a river itself, or a story of the people or industries that rely on it, the chosen poem would be set to music. And the music? A brand-new version of my previously instrumental piano piece ‘Gwyre’ (‘Wetlands’). This way Sing United gets to premier a song created especially for the show, and a local pupil gets to have the opportunity to take part in an exciting creative collaboration.
I am delighted to announce that Lara Brown (aged 13) of Newcastle High School for Girls, daughter of Sing United member Jill Brown, had her poem chosen which is entitled “The Tyne Lives On”. I really enjoyed setting her words to my music, and can’t wait for everyone to hear this totally unique artistic collaboration!
I hope that you are excited about these extra community aspects to what Sing United is going to do.
This is just the beginning and there is much more to come.
Kate Rusby – Bring Me a Boat
A love song to a lover across the River Tyne.
Following in the tradition of traditional Tyneside songs, Kate Rusby penned this beautiful folk song in 2003. What’s perhaps surprising, though, is that the singer-songwriter who has collaborated with such big names as Seth Lakeman and Ronan Keating, is in fact from Penistone, Barnsley.
As one of the few folk artists to have been nominated for a Mercury Prize, the lyrics of “Bring Me a Boat” give a clear nod to the heritage of Tyneside songs such as “Waters of Tyne”, when she sings “Bring to me a boat to cross o’er the Tyne, for its deep murky waters part his heart and mine”. As a result, our version includes a small section of “Waters of Tyne” in the final version as a short mash up, for an extra level of north east regional representation!
