The New Lebanon Library will host a program of holiday music and merriment that will appeal to musical adventurers of all ages on Friday, December 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.[private][/private] John and Sondra Bromka – Bells and Motley Olden Music – promise spirited repartee and participatory seasonal sing-alongs, highlighted by an unusual collection of Wassailing Songs, and other special traditions from distant times and places. The Bromkas’ parlay of historic instruments features the Celtic harp, hurdy gurdy, hammered dulcimer, mandocello, button boxes, French bagpipes, Northumbrian cauld wind pipes, recorders, German crumhorns, and a regale of voices.
More than any other holiday, Christmas is a season made rich through the customs of days gone by. Many favorite holiday customs that are enjoyed today were first popularized in the Victorian era of England and America, and many hark back to even earlier traditions of distant times and places. The Bromkas are artists who look to the past for inspiration for music, instruments, and stories — in much the same way Victorian folks enjoyed the Christmas season as a pause from modern life, to reflect and revel in holiday traditions steeped in the past. They draw from rich English, Celtic, French traditions, and delved backwards for ideas, themes, and symbolic Christmas characters.
The Bromkas’ collection of Wassailing Songs derive from Somerset, Gloucestershire, Cornwall, and beyond. The word Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wes hael. Meaning “Be ye hail!, Be ye healthy.” Stop by to bid a hearty “Wassail” to friends and neighbors, at this event that promises to be a delight to the eye, ear, and heart!
The Bromkas are themselves versatile Renaissance people, acknowledged not only for their talents as musicians, but also as storytellers, musicologists, teachers, composers, instrument builders, and recording artists. Making their home and gardens in a vintage Victorian house in Marcellus, New York, John and Sondra have traveled widely in the course of musical research and maintain a busy schedule of concerts and workshops at schools, colleges, historic sites, and Renaissance and living history festivals throughout the Northeast as well as Europe.
The event is free and open to the public. For further information on this event, please call the New Lebanon Library at (518) 794-8844. For more information about Bells and Motley, visit www.bellsandmotley.com.
The library is located at 550 State Route 20, 1/4 mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22. [/private]