The Old World Carolers of Sebastopol were founded in 1985 and have had a rotating lineup of singers over the years. They are currently seeking new members to rehearse throughout the fall for performances during the Christmas holiday.
The Old World Carolers began singing traditional British carols, but eventually they began to delve deeply into the carol traditions of Western and Eastern Europe, including medieval music. Today their repertoires are less well known – and more interesting. This year’s repertoire includes carols from the 12th to 16th centuries.
Rebecca Dwan is the last remaining original member of the group. She recalls that for several years the group performed at the Sonoma County Museum’s annual gala, playing repertoires based on the homelands of various immigrant groups in Sonoma County.
“So there was a Russian year and an Italian year — that was wonderful. There was a Chinese year and a French year,” she said. “It was kind of a challenge for us to work on songs from a whole region and have to sing in the language and everything,” Dwan recalls, “but that’s how our repertoire built up very quickly. Now we have hundreds and hundreds of songs.”
Dwan said you don’t have to be able to read music to be in the group, but you do have to be able to memorize music and lyrics by ear.
“Sometimes I prefer that they don’t read music, because when people read music, they stay with the music and they don’t memorize it. They just read note by note … and they don’t read the whole phrase,” she said. “And that’s really important in singing — singing the whole phrase — and you have to have that in your head and in your body.”
The group wears 19th-century costumes when they perform, but don’t worry if you don’t have one. Dwan will find one for you — or maybe even make one himself. “Every year I sew a few new costumes and make a few new things,” she said.
Sometimes the costumes work, sometimes they don’t. One year all the women wore hoop skirts, “which is really difficult when you’re on a small stage and can’t stand close to each other,” she says, laughing.
As part of their Christmas performances, the group also performs Christmas dances.
“Christmas carols were originally dances,” said Dwan, “often circle dances or waltzes. Sometimes we incorporate Balkan dances into our concert, and this year we have one from Bulgaria.”
The news that Christmas carols were once associated with dances may come as a surprise to many. (It did to me.)
“There is a wonderful book by Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Street: A Story of Collective Joy, where it talks about how people used to dance in church,” Dwan said, before the Catholic Church – and later the Protestant churches – cracked down on such practices. “So some of these really old Christmas carols have to do with that. They come from that tradition.”
“I’ve always been interested in Christmas music, and so has my mother, so I grew up with it,” Dwan said. “I also collect books about the history of Christmas and of course have a huge collection of Christmas music and Christmas antiques. I’m just a self-professed Christmas fan, even though I’m not a Christian myself.”
She can identify more with the solstice aspect of the Christmas holiday. “The part about chasing away the cold winter,” she said, noting that “winter holidays are as old as civilization.”
She loves the oldest Christmas carols.
“If something has lasted that long, I think there must be something good about it, the longer it has lasted year after year out of all the thousands of other songs that are out there,” she said. “These are good songs. They comfort people, and comfort is really important in the winter. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have those songs and that music.”
“You know some people have this thing in the winter…” she said, searching for the right words.
“Seasonal affective disorder,” I suggest.
“Yeah. I don’t, because not only do I have this music, but I also collect antique Christmas lights. I’m really into lights. Of course, it’s the winter solstice. It’s a festival of lights. So we have lights and fires and candles – and for a day or so, or 12 days actually, we can really celebrate.”
But there are still many months of rehearsals to go before this annual celebration, so the Old World Carolers are now looking for volunteers. The group had its first rehearsal last week. They will meet weekly until December, when performances begin.
Dwan said the group’s membership has waxed and waned over the years. They used to have more than 20 singers. Last year there were only nine. The group is open to all people, regardless of their faith. All you have to share is a love of music.
Ready to sign up? Contact The Old World Carolers at [email protected].
