The Wendigo

NEVER one to pass up the opportunity of a free event, I decided to take my kids off to Waterloo for a lunchtime music concert beside the banks of the Thames. And very good it was, too. THE WENDIGO are comprised of Julian Sutton (melodian/accordian), Stephen Tyler (hurdy-gurdy/cittern) and Anne Marie Summers (pipes/clarinet/recorder), and specialise in performing traditional dance rhythms and melodies which originated in Central France. Anne and Stephen also play together as the medieval duo, MISERICORDIA.

We arrived half an hour early and therefore had a chance to watch the sound-check and have a word with the musicians themselves. By twelve-thirty, however, a modest crowd of around 100 hardcore folk devotees and curious middle-class types was spread across the foyer and clustered eagerly around small, wobbly coffee-tables. We sat at the front approximately two metres away from the group, so were able to study the instruments in some detail and enjoy the performance at first-hand.

Dressed in a dark silk waistcoat, white shirt and black winkle-pickers, Stephen Tyler fitted the role of the archetypal Renaissance man perfectly, his beard neatly-trimmed and wavy long hair cascading down to his shoulders. Meanwhile, Julian Sutton wore a navy blue shirt and black jeans. Perhaps in the absence of a percussionist, he tapped out a constant beat on the bare floor of the foyer with his Dr. Marten boots. Anne Marie Summers - a pretty brunette with one half of her long hair swept back across her right shoulder - wore long silver earrings and a buttoned cream cardigan which exposed her navel. She held the pipes in her left hand and had the accompanying air-bag strapped beneath her right arm. The group's delightful repertoire of Breton tunes soon had a quartet of traditional dancers on their feet, their studious faces and well-rehearsed steps causing them to swirl around the restricted area between the stairs leading to the lower level of the building, a tall white pillar and several potted plants. They danced mostly with arms extended and fingers entwined as in the standard waltzing procedure, at other times they danced with one arm hanging motionless down by their sides.

One of my favourite tunes was Vertigo, written by Stephen Tyler and - according to Anne Marie Summers - so named because 'it makes Julian and I feel dizzy and sick'. But whilst the dancers were enough to make anyone dizzy, the only sickness I experienced was the fact that the tune had to come to an end. And so it went on, a mixture of Breton and Scots tunes in various configurations with 5, 4 or 3 beats to the bar. There was even an 8-time waltz performed with a clarinet, a speed which I wasn't aware even existed. Thankfully, the dancers - who in my opinion were getting precariously close to the top of that staircase - seemed to have mastered the musical acceleration pretty well.

During the interval I asked Stephen Tyler about the hurdy-gurdy and it seems it had been made in Gloucestershire. Stephen has been playing it for over nine years. The instrument is used by winding a metal handle at the base of the instrument which, in turn, causes a central wooden wheel to travel around at the same speed. The wheel bows the strings, whilst the keys are compressed with the other hand to make a 'kind of rhythmic buzz'. It looks like a cross between a mahogany tortoise and a model barge, and is carried in a tall hexagonal box resembling a child's coffin.

Stephen also plays the cittern, which is simiar to a lute but shaped more like a mandolin (albeit with a larger body and much longer neck). This instrument was used to provide the rhythm for Anne's beautiful rendition of the traditional English folk song, Lovely Joan, which I vaguely remember being covered by PLANXTY many years ago. It is the tale of an abortive seduction which gradually turns into a robbery. This was followed by Honey And Lemon, a tune written by Julian Sutton which begins with a long accordian solo before moving on to a truly fantastic and flurried performance by Anne on the recorder. In fact it left us almost as breathless as she was. The final tune - a 2-time arrangement - saw the trio revert back to their primary incarnation of melodian, hurdy-gurdy and pipes.

The most striking thing about the group is that they do not actually sound very French. This is because the tunes originate from the Breton region of the country and therefore have far more in common with Celtic music. I would certainly recommend THE WENDIGO to anyone with an interest in good music performed by highly talented musicians. Not simply from a medievalist perspective, but also for those who simply love good traditional folk.

Further information about the group can be obtained from The Wendigo, Brancepeth Castle, Brancepeth, County Durham DH7 8DE, UK or from their website at:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mapy/wendigo/
Meanwhile, details relating to MISERICORDIA appear at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mapy/misericordia/index.html