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An evening with the Thomas Clark Quire
Lynsted Church (with Society Report)
The Thomas Clark Quire perform "West Gallery" music:
the type of music you would have heard coming from the west gallery of Kent country Parish churches
between the years 1770 and 1840.
This is a part of our musical history, which has become virtually extinct and the Thomas Clark Quire has sought to revive it in the robust and lively manner in which it would originally have been performed.
Performing in costumes of the Georgian period they give us a glimpse of our heritage by interspersing the musical pieces with anecdotes, quotations from period documents, information about the people of that time and the society in which they lived, sang and played.
Society Report - West Gallery Performance by the Thomas Clark Quire
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With performers and audience numbering fifty, this was a memorable and intimate performance that raised much applause, smiles, and several surprises.
Lynsted church gave the ideal backdrop to music dominated by Kentish composers and intended for church choir performances during the Georgian and early Victorian period (1770-1840). While this wonderfully entertaining evening was civilised enough, we heard that this was much less so 200 years ago when choirs and the clergy operated with open hostility. One story tells of a choir falling out with the clergyman, getting up and walking to another church to perform. Why should there be such conflict? We were reminded that the clergy were drawn from genteel families with whom they hunted, danced, dined and entertained; Quires were made up from “the middle ground” – farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, journeymen, ostlers, and other skilled artisans. There was very little respect or common ground between these two classes and it wouldn’t be so unusual for quire members to be drunk as well. We also learned of the different ways services were conducted, churches decorated and pulpits designed.
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Anecdotes and insights of this kind peppered the evening and brought to life the period and performance. Locally recognisable names of tunes included Boughton, Sittingbourne (a setting of Psalm 49 by David Senior (1746-77), a school master – if anyone knows of this man, the Quire would love to hear), Orlestone, Kemsing, Faversham, Canterbury, Queenborough, and Cranbrook!
Two pieces played and sung in the first half were chosen to reflect the current period of the ecclesiastical calendar – Ascension and Pentecost.
 The first half of the performance ended with a fascinating talk about period instruments with examples being played (some made by the player) to reinforce how the look and sound changed with changes in material, use of keys, and fundamental design principles. Perhaps the most surprising was the bass shawm (a conical woodwind instrument) that stood seven feet tall! In the 18th century many instruments were made locally to the players and tuned to each other – but with no guarantee that instruments of neighbouring communities would be in tune with each other!
Thomas Clark, was a prolific Kentish composer of psalmody from Canterbury who lived between 1755 and 1859. This Kentish Quire adopted his name in recognition of his contribution to West Gallery music. The concert finished with the hymn “Grace ‘tis a charming sound” to the tune "Cranbrook", set by Thomas Clark and more often today sung as “On Ilkley Moor bar tat”! So, not a Yorkshire tune at all!
 At the close of the first half, and before we tucked into the magnificent spread of Georgian nibbles and punches (try the recipes if you wish), the Society invited  Rev. Steve Lillicrap to accept an archival copy, hard-bound and gilt-decorated, of the Monumental Inscriptions found in the churchyard surrounding Lynsted Church. The research was undertaken by Society members with participation by friends from the Teynham and Lynsted History Society. The printing and binding of this unique book was generously provided by Barrett & Co. printing company.
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