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REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

 


 

 

 
PETE COE, BRIAN PETERS & LAURA SMYTH - The Road To Peterloo 

PETE COE, BRIAN PETERS & LAURA SMYTH - The Road To Peterloo 
Backshift Music BASHCD65 

One could argue that it’s taken this year’s bicentenary of the actual event (the massacre by troops of a peaceful crowd of protesters in a Manchester field) to enable its fullest, most accurate representation; and both Mike Leigh’s recent film and the musical history project enshrined on this CD and its companion live concert show can undoubtedly be considered crucial to this (along with the publication last year of Dr. Alison Morgan’s book, Songs & Ballads Of Peterloo).

This is a musical chronicle that by eschewing the modes and trappings of folk-opera or recreated drama provides an even more convincing account of the event, one that (importantly) explores both its context and timeline. The three participants make a fine team; they’re already individually renowned for their keen research and musical expertise and proficiency, skills which enable them to utilise authentic lyrics, actuality accounts (predominantly in the form of contemporary broadsides) which are carefully matched to existing tunes or in a few cases supplied with fully credible and idiomatic new ones.

The CD adopts a sensibly chronological approach. Its first eight songs serve to set the scene and examine the root causes of disaffection and the rationale for protest – this sequence contains items familiar from the wider folk repertoire, which are here reappraised and brilliantly reinvigorated to emerge entirely fresh. An instrumental interlude precedes three eye-witness accounts of the massacre itself. The final sequence begins with the backlash (a pair of biting satirical commentaries), then moves on to the aftermath, the continuation of protest with the subsequent rise of Chartism.

The Road To Peterloo may be viewed as something of a benchmark in its musical portrayal of a key historical event in due perspective, in that it has spirit, is genuinely alive and not dry or dusty, and raises our awareness of the issues by bringing the essential narrative to life through its use of authentic sources and its commendably direct, unfussy presentation (good honest musicianship and vital, committed performances, and abundantly informative accompanying booklet). Congratulations!

www.theroadtopeterloo.com

David Kidman

 

This review appeared in Issue 130 of The Living Tradition magazine