The Thomas Hardy Songbook

Thomas Hardy noted down words and titles of many local songs sung by his family and neighbours.  By combining these with the music from his family’s manuscript music-books and the folk-songs collected in Dorset by Henry and Robert Hammond in the early twentieth century, The Thomas Hardy Song Book presents the singing tradition that Hardy knew as a boy, and which permeates the world of his poems and novels. There are songs of love, seafaring, revelry and the supernatural alongside carols, part-songs and dance music, with spoken extracts from Hardy’s novels. All are linked to Thomas Hardy and his family and neighbours, sung here in complete versions for a modern audience, accompanied by village band instruments fiddle, concertina, serpent, trombone and clarinet.

Dave Townsend (Director) – Voice, Concertinas
Caroline Butler – Voice, Baroque Violin
Tim Hill – Clarinet
Phil Humphries – Voice, Serpent, Trombone
Charles Spicer – Spoken Word
with
Ian Giles – Harmony Vocals
Mandy Townsend – Harmony Vocals
Michael Taylor – Bass Drum

Additional information