The Music
There are well over a thousand psalm and hymn tunes collected together from the Larks of Dean. The earliest dated appears to be 1745, and the Rev. John Nuttall's two sons, James and Henry contributed most, with Henry composing about 100. Other composers were John Hargreaves, Reuben Hudson, Abraham and Robert Ashworth, and other members of the Nuttall family.
There are many stories of practices going into the early hours, even of Sunday sessions continuing into Monday. In addition to their own music, the Larks of Dean loved the music of George Handel. One member is said to have walked well over 20 miles just to look at a copy of Samson. Several members of the Larks of Dean were great characters. One remarkable member was Robert o' t'h Moss (Ashworth), and Thomas Newbigging tells the story of him playing a hornpipe on his cello; when an old deacon exclaimed "Robert, that's an idle tune", he replied, "There are no idle tunes."
Today's the Larks of Dean Quire, based in Bury, Lancashire continue this tradition, though their singing of hymns, psalms, anthems, and carols, are mostly performed unaccompanied, and they have their own Larks of Dean Quire website . A collection of instruments and manuscripts belonging to the original Larks of Dean are on display in Whitaker Park Museum, Rawtenstall.
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