Come in… You can join in the conversation I’ve been having with Mackenzie, the Head Librarian here, about street cries of London. Now you’ll more likely know the broadside ballad quoted by Joyce in Ulysses (‘In Dublin’s fair city lived a maiden so pritty / Her name it was Molly Malone / And through Streets broad, and narrow she wheeled / her weelbarrow / Crying Cockles and mussles alive, alive, O). What Iain was speculating on, was the more bawdy nature of some of these street cries, as it was widely believed that dear sweet Molly was a whore selling a different sort of seafood by night.
Now what you prolly don’t know is that all the great and not so great cities of Europe had street vendors crying out their occupations and wares to passerbys — dressmakers, chimney sweepers, purveyors of seafood, roasted chestnuts vendors, hot tarts, fruit, flowers, milk and so forth. Not to mention news and gossip, both political and not so political. Now do understand, that though we might think this was a quaint and useful practice, not all agreed — as this excerpt from the Illustrated London News for July 1st, 1882 illustrates:
The Englishman is a long-suffering animal. He bears much and grumbles little, and when things come to the worst is satisfied with grumbling. He even derives pleasure from a grievance, if it be due, or he thinks it due, to the liberty of which his countrymen are proud. And yet how much happier life would be if this freedom were a little restricted. It may be well, for instance, that there should be men and women blessed with Billingsgate lungs; but the sound of their sweet voices ‘ascending the sky’ in the so-called quiet streets of our London suburbs can scarcely be said, in the words of the poet, ‘to inspire heavenly joys.’ On the contrary, a feeling very earthly and, perhaps, a little naughty, is raised even in the most Christian breast by these harsh and coarse-grained sounds. Vendors of fruit and flowers, of milk and muffins are not agreeable visitors when they roar for a living, and the poor organ-grinder little knows, let us hope, the anguish he inflicts upon sensitive nerves.
Most of us will never encounter anything close unless we frequent one of the great public markets of the world, such as the Pike Place Public Market, where, while playing in that city, I watched fish and produce vendors engage in their version of street cries, enticing shoppers to buy their wares!
According to Wikipedia, ‘Theatre of Voices is a vocal ensemble founded in 1992, which focuses on early music and new music. Members of the group are from both the United States and England. It was formed by Paul Hillier as an avenue to do more contemporary music when his group, the Hilliard Ensemble, focused primarily on early music. Hillier created the group while he was teaching at the University of California, Davis. The group has collaborated with a number of composers, including Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, and John Adams.’
As this is not just voices (and a pity that it isn’t), Fretwork provided the music. That group, again according to Wikipedia, ‘is a consort of viols based in England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1986, the group consists of six players and is considered to be one of the finest groups performing music for viol consort. Its repertoire consists primarily of music of the Renaissance period, in particular that of Elizabethan England, and Baroque period, including arrangements of the music of J.S. Bach.’
Ahhhh, but that combination is quite wrong for the material being presented here. Street cries, like those done by Molly Malone and her ilk, were not operatic-sounding singing voices with fine baroque style music adding texture to them. They were very much vocal chants far closer in style to what the Bulgarian Women’s Ensemble or Marta Sebestyen sound like. A well-done street cry is piercing and intended to catch the ear and make the listener pay attention. The street cries here get lost, as they are part of a musical composition, not something you’d hear on a crowded street. The fish seller shilling sockeye salmon in Pike Place Public Market uses only his voice to capture your attention, as has the street vendor in London down the countless centuries.
As a piece of musical fantasy, Street Cries works well, as all the musicians involved are stellar and their performances are first-rate; but as a reflection of the actual sound of what street cries sounded like — we have several excellent references on the subject and they give a good overview of what they were like in their proper setting — I will say it doesn’t work well a ‘tall. Street Cries is an unfortunate experiment in gilding a lily which looked quite fine in its natural state. I think any lover of seventeenth century English music will be quite happy with this recording, though I was expecting something that clearly isn’t there.
(Harmonia Mundi, 2006)
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