Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 053-2 - April 1999 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 10 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-05 08:18:50 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:01 Last Updated: 2025-04-22 07:39:26

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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NCHS Bulletin April 1999 long beard that could have put the members’ beards of the band ZZ Top to shame. He grew the beard so long supposedly as a form of protest. He had no intentions of shaving the beard until people recognized the fact that he flew before the Wright brothers. He would have died with the beard had the nurses in the Nevada County Hospital (where he died) not shaved it. Only 11 years after Gilmore died, February 20, 1962, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth. In 1968 Lyman Gilmore School in Grass Valley was dedicated to Lyman Gilmore, and in 1978 a mural depicting major events in his life was painted on the outer portion of the gym wall. Lyman Gilmore was an amazing visionary who, just as John Glenn and Chuck Yeager—who lives in Nevada County at present—had the “right stuff.” The Grass Valley Carol Choir by Andrew Haley Winner of Honorable Mention in the 1998 Nevada County Historical Society’s Student Speech Contest [Haley began by singing the “Harlech” song] Te IS A TRADITIONAL SONG FROM ENGLAND, it has been sung by the voices of from Wales, from Cornwall, and many other areas throughout England. I chose it to sing to you because it really demonstrates the pride and joy that the English take in the history of their culture and their music. If you listen closely to my speech, you may even learn about men from England, and the music they brought to Nevada County. Specifically, tin miners from Cornwall. You see, the Cornish have always been a musical people, so it was only natural that they brought their music with them when they began trickling in after gold was discovered here in 1849. Not only did it help them to stay unique from everyone else who was mining gold, it also helped them continue their unity and preserve their common history and culture. I will tell you about the forming of the internationally famous Grass Valley Carol Choir. About the kind of music they sang. And finally, about the history of the choir and how it evolved over the years. The people of Cornwall have always been loyal to their fellow countrymen. When one was offered a job, it was common for him to say, “And ’ave ye got a job for me Cousin Jack?” So it’s no surprise that a choir might come into existence. You see Cornwall miners or “Cousin Jacks” would get together in groups of four and sing quartet songs In 1877 a man named John Farrell of Grass Valley got 50 Cornwall miners and their descendants to form the first allmale choir group in the area. A little later, a second group was formed of all those willing to sing but who could not join the first choir. The two groups joined when member6 ship declined due to moving (rumor has it that many of the current members thought it was too corny); the group was now known as the Grass Valley Carol Choir. Very few of the choir members could read music, the songs were mostly passed down from generation to generation by memorization. Anyone could join, they simply had to love music. Boys could join when they were considered “old enough to sit still,” which was about 8-10 years of age. They were usually members for their whole lives, it was common to find four generations of a family singing at one time! You had the great-grandfather, the grandfather, the father and the son—talk about family support, hunh!? One member, Will T. George, sang in the choir for 60 years! The type of music they sang was traditional Cornish music. This is often mistaken with the songs of the Welsh coal miners, but they are very different. The Cornish music is more akin to the music composed by Handel. It makes frequent use of a musical technique called the counterpoint. This is a melody that is the opposite of the melody sung by the lead tenors or altos; the lead melody is the core of the song, the counterpoint is the melody that goes in harmony with the first, making a rich and diverse sound. The majority of the Commish music was developed by a composer named Thomas Merritt. This man was a musical genius! He was uneducated, but managed to teach himself how to read, write, and compose music, and wrote many songs for his church. What he composed had a gigantic effect on the music sung by the Commish. However, you must . understand that they only sang Christmas music; usually 12 carols a year were memorized and then performed. After the two groups formed the Carol Choir, things really began to pick up for the miners. They had a rigorous schedule, beginning at the end of every summer. Rehearsals started in September. The group always performed at the Methodist Church, local hospitals, for old widows, on the steps of the Union Building, and in the streets of Grass Valley and Nevada City. This was done every Christmas. During World War II they received national attention. The choir went 2,000 feet down into the Idaho-Maryland Mine and broadcast live to the nation on [NBC] Radio. The broadcast was repeated again in 1941 and ’42. Tapes were actually flown to soldiers overseas and broadcast on shortwave radio to the men. After that, the group traveled all over Northern California performing. That was the peak of the group’s career. The next decade the mines began to close, and jobs were less available in the area. In 1968 the aforementioned Harold George, the chorus leader, held the last Christmas Eve Sing, shortly after the choir disbanded. But in 1990 Eleanor Kenitzer revived the choir, and it is now a male and female choir; it even has o~ four members from 1968! You surely have to love music to sing traditional Cornish song with them. They have already“ performed in many famous churches in England during their trip to Europe in 1996. e