The Mediaeval Baebes create the most extraordinary musical experience and are well worthy of becoming your new Christmas tradition.
If you don’t know them, the Baebes are internationally acclaimed and have won an Ivor Novella Award for their performance on the BBC serialisation “The Virgin Queen” and received two Emmy nominations and a Royal Television Society award. Each year, St Mary’s Church in Horsham forms part of their winter tour not least because of their strong connection to nearby Loxwood Joust. This winter was no exception.
Their music and style are hard to describe because they are so completely unique, but think ethereal, traditional, exotic, choral, and utterly mesmerising. They arrived by candlelit procession down The Causeway and then took the audience with them on a journey. From classics like Gaudete to bawdry numbers by Chaucer, the Baebes are super talented and effortlessly switch from ancient languages to modern to the gentle backdrop of a series of traditional instruments. One minute, you are haunted by tales of King Herod and the Massacre of the Innocent and your heart wrenches with the pain, and the next moment, you are joyfully wassailing the apple trees for next year’s harvest. Baebes founder, Katherine Blake’s fingers fly over her five different recorders, sometimes even playing two at once and creating the most exquisite music. You’ll wish you kept up those primary school lessons!
With bewitching crowns made of ivy and berries, and the fabulous acoustics and backdrop of St Mary’s, the Baebes’ voices have a clarity, power, purity and depth that is rare and the church felt like it might burst with glorious sound. The evening was peppered with anecdotal narrative and folklore but despite their huge talent, the Baebes remain irreverent and grounded as they weave their humour into their ancient tales. In their own words, their music is defiant and celebratory in equal measure. The simplicity of six voices, captivating storytelling, and the heady mixture of pagan and Christian traditions creates an evening that is intoxicating, inspiring, and joyful and quite frankly is like no other Christmas service you’ll go to.
With a fair wind, the Mediaeval Baebes will be back next year (or you can see them at the Joust in the summer) but as Christmas and winter traditions go, their concerts are hard to beat and create quite the most fabulous start to the festivities of this time of year.
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