Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. It is home to many types of music.
Folk music
The county has a well-documented and still vibrant folk music heritage, It was studied by one of the earliest British musicologists, Cecil Sharp. Sharp began his career of collecting folk songs in Somerset in 1903 with the editorial help of his friend Rev Charles Marson, vicar of Hambridge. Cycling around the county during holidays, Sharp ultimately collected more than 1,500 songs from Somerset. The folksinging tradition in Somerset centers on solo, a cappella singing and playing—at home, at work, and at gatherings, small or large.[1] Sharp's five volume collection of Somerset folk songs formed the basis for his English Folk Song: Some Conclusions, a seminal 1907 publication. Some of Sharp's collections formed the basis for Songs of the West (with Sabine Baring-Gould) and Somerset Rhapsody by Gustav Holst and the "March from Somerset" in Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite.
Somerset also has a contemporary folk music scene. Ange Hardy and Reg Meuross, are from the county, as well as Kitty McFarlane, Mary Bateman, Hannah Cumming and Johnny Dyer, and The Leylines. The best known folk act to come out of Somerset is undoubtedly the Wurzels, who brought the region's association with cider and farming to the international stage. The region boasts several popular folk festivals, including the Priddy Folk Festival, the West Somerset Folk Festival, Bath Folk Festival, Stogumber Festival, The Weston-super-Mare Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival, and the Kingsbury May Festival.
Classical
The City of Bath Bach Choir (CBBC) was founded in October 1946 by Cuthbert Bates, who was also a founding father of the Bath Bach Festival in 1950. The choir gave its inaugural concert in June 1947 in Bath Abbey, a performance of J. S. Bach's great Mass in B Minor. Cuthbert Bates, as well as the founder, was also the choir's principal conductor.
Somerset chamber choir was formed in 1984 by former members of Somerset Youth Choir,[2][3] and typically gives two concerts annually. Initially, these were mainly around Taunton, but in July 1992 the choir gave it first Wells Cathedral concert.
Situated in Great Elm, Frome, the Jackdaws Music Education Trust was established by Maureen Lehane with the aim of improving participation in and enjoyment of Classical music and music making through weekend courses, concerts, a young artists programme and education projects. Their current projects[4] include Jack's Music Club — a music club for teenagers promoting social music making, supported by Somerset County Music — and OperaPLUS, which will be staging Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (sung in English as 'The Love Potion') working with locals schools and Jackdaws Young Artists.[5]
Venues
There are many music institutions that play a major part in the musical life of Somerset. Halsway Manor is the only residential centre for folk music and culture in the United Kingdom.
More recently, bands that have originated, or have some connections in Somerset include Reef, Kula Shaker and Toploader. All of these have played at the Glastonbury Festival—the largest and richest annual event in Somerset's music scene.
Three of the most beloved musical artists of the 1980s new wave scene, Tears for Fears, Naked Eyes, and Climie Fisher, came from Bath in Somerset, and were a part of the same musical scene in their native Bath.
Gabrielle Aplin lives in Bath in Somerset and gained major popularity from her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Power Of Love' that reached number one in the singles charts in 2012. She recently release her debut album "English Rain" and often mentions Somerset on her Twitter account.
The Weston-super-Mare Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival started in 2021. It is not for profit; raising £5000 for the local RNLI and Lion's Clubs in 2021. It is returning in 2022 and will be an annual event organised by The Steepholmers Shanty Band (Reg Charity 1197505) who are from Weston-super-Mare. The Festival has more than 50 Sea Shanty and Folk Music bands from all over the British Isles across more than 14 venues in the town and along the seafront.
The Priddy Folk Festival is a volunteer run charitable festival raising money to promote music performance and improving the environs of Priddy. It is a 3 day festival held on the second weekend in July and has been running for over 30 years featuring high quality folk artists from across the world and many up and coming stars.
^Songs of Somerset Folk, Traditional Songs from the Sharp Archives performed by Eddie Upton, Folk South West, 1998. Halsgrove, Tiverton, Devon. Audio CD, ISBN1-84114-011-2, ISBN978-1-84114-011-7
Songs of Somerset Folk, Traditional Songs from the Sharp Archives performed by Eddie Upton, Folk South West, 1998. Halsgrove, Tiverton, Devon. Audio CD, ISBN1-84114-011-2, ISBN978-1-84114-011-7