Morris Monday
Morris Monday is an orchestral fantasia of Cotswold morris tunes from the repertoire of the Beaux of London City Morris Men. It was commissioned by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) for Alison’s Creative Artist Residency at Cecil Sharp House, London, and was written between September 2012 and March 2013.
The premiere performance in March 2013 featured a 30-piece orchestra brought together specially for the concert at Cecil Sharp House. It was conducted by Alison and contained both classical and classically-trained folk players. In the spirit of EFDSS’ professional development scheme, most of the musicians were under the age of 25 and just beginning their musical careers.
Below are extracts from a live recording of the premiere performance.
Alison re-orchestrated the third movement of Morris Monday for performance by Camden Training Orchestra (ages 8-12 and grades 1-3) alongside ‘folky arrangements’ of a couple of the tunes featured in the fantasia. This project was run by EFDSS and led by Alison, with funding from Youth Music. The final performance took place at LSO St Luke’s.