Ralph Vaughan Williams in the East

Celebrating East Anglian folksong

Walberswick, Suffolk

Sunday 8th February 2009

A day of illustrated talks and an afternoon concert telling the story of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’ trips to the eastern counties a hundred years ago to collect folk-songs from fishermen and farmworkers.

Talks include: ‘That Precious Legacy: Vaughan Williams and Essex Folksong’ (Sue Cubbin, Essex Record Office), Vaughan Williams in Cambridgeshire: Deciphering the Manuscripts’ (Mary Humphreys, singer & researcher) and ‘Vaughan Williams - Then and Now: Collecting and Communities in Norfolk & Suffolk’ (Katie Howson, East Anglian Traditional Music Trust).

The concert features a selection of the folk songs collected by Vaughan Williams in the eastern counties, brought back to life by singers Chris Coe, Mary Humphreys and Anahata, Adrian May, Sue Cubbin and Elaine Barker.

There will also be a unique chance to see several exhibitions linked to the talks.

Tickets are available for the whole day or for the concert only.

The event takes place in Walberswick Village Hall. Walberswick is off the A12 near Blythburgh in Suffolk, and across the River Blyth from Southwold. Doors open to view the exhibitions at 10.30 am and talks start at 11am. There will be a break for lunch and an interval for tea before the concert, which runs from 4pm to 5.15. Light refreshments will be available, or lunch may be booked at local public houses. Further details will be sent out by email/ post on receipt of payment.

Click here for a printable booking form.

Photos, left to right: William Hurr, singer from Southwold, James Carter, singer from King's Lynn, Ralph Vauaghan Williams, Chris Coe & singers in Harleston, 2005. Vaughan Williams collected songs from Hurr in 1910, Carter in 1905, and in the Harleston area of Norfolk in 1911. Thanks to The English Folk Dance and Song Society, True's Yard Fishing Heritage Museum and Andrew Jenkins for permission to use these images.

Thanks also to BBC Radio Norfolk, Friends of EATMT and the RVW Society for supporting the North End Voices project and exhibition in 2007-8, and King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council, Suffolk County Council, Adnams Charity and Awards for All for supporting earlier projects which resulted in the research, publications and exhibitions about Suffolk and Norfolk.

Further information about Vaughan Williams' song collecting in Suffolk and Norfolk may be found on this website: visit the Research section for links. Two booklets have also been published by EATMT: click here to visit our online shop.