Photo: Performers at Central Manchester Meeting House.
Thank you for the music: Sue Johnson hears The Fire and the Hammer
‘I found myself immersed.’
Wow. The radical, transformative experience of George Fox, which powered the beginnings of our Quaker movement, was brought right into my heart, thoughts and feelings at Central Manchester Meeting House last month.
Around 150 Friends gathered to hear a performance of The Fire and the Hammer, a powerful choral composition combining beautiful music with compelling narration. It recreates Fox’s journey, using words from his journal. The lyrics and music (by Alec Davison and Tony Biggin) describe, with impact, key moments of doubt, inspiration, persecution and personal turmoil.
In the 1990s, director John Sheldon took a production of The Fire and the Hammer to the USA. He has done us a great service in bringing this stirring revival to Manchester, gathering Friends from around the country to perform. I give thanks to all these Friends, whose hard work gave this revival such vibrant and meaningful life.
Tony Biggin, the composer, introduced the performance with a startling and passionate challenge. He read from Fox’s 59 Particulars: ‘And let all these jangling bells cease which do feed people‘s pleasures and vain minds… Let all those Ballad singers and Ballad makers… which stir up people’s vain and light minds, be taken away.’
Tony told us some of the history of the piece. Yearly Meeting in 1978 saw the debut of the Quaker youth theatre, The Leaveners, and Ormerod Greenwood’s Swarthmore Lecture, ‘Signs of Life’. Tony and Alec were commissioned to compose this piece in 1983. In 1993, it toured Britain.
The performance opens with the reflections of George’s wife, Margaret, three days after his death. The moving and powerful narration (by Val Clark) gave us a glimpse of the personal turmoil – a combination of despairing anger at George for ignoring and enduring the vicious peril to himself, but also her pride in, and love for, him.
Margaret’s part in George’s life was told with a passionate rendition of a song called ‘Dear Heart’, by the professional tenor Will North. He sang from a letter George wrote to Margaret from prison, with its heartbreaking ending: ‘no more… but my love.’
Peter Fishpool narrated Fox in a rich, resonant voice, bringing unfamiliar seventeenth-century language to life. Rachel Little, alto, gave us a memorable Mary Fox singing to her children. This was all supported by pianist Lauren Turner, who played a technically-challenging score with great assurance skill and sensitivity.
The performance became a witness to the power of music to bring fresh meaning and urgency to our testimonies and Quaker life. Messages from across the generations spoke to me.
The finale was a triumph – a crescendo of tumultuous voices coming together in glorious harmony. It was a stirring reflection on the joy of being in the Light, and experiencing the Light in all.
