Sydney Bertram Carter (6 May 1915 – 13 March 2004) was an English poet, songwriter, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician who was born in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, London. He is best known for the song " Lord of the Dance" (1967), whose music is based on the " Shaker Allegro" more commonly known as the song " Simple Gifts", and the song "The Crow on the Cradle". His other notable songs include "Julian of Norwich" (sometimes called "The Bells of Norwich"), based on words of Julian of Norwich, "One More Step Along the World I Go", "When I Needed a Neighbour", "Friday Morning", "Every Star Shall Sing a Carol", "The Youth of the Heart", "Down Below" and "Sing John Ball".

Biography

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Carter studied at Montem Street Primary School in

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

school in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, West Sussex and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, graduating in history in 1936. A committed

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

, he registered as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and joined the

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 19 ...

, serving in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In 1964 he married his second wife Leela Nair, with whom he had a son, the neurosurgeon Michael Carter.

Career

Carter worked as a lyricist for

Donald Swann Donald Ibrahim Swann (30 September 1923 – 23 March 1994) was a British composer, musician, singer and entertainer. He was one half of Flanders and Swann, writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders. Life Donald Swann was born ...

's revues and musicals in the 1950s and in 1962 produced an album, ''Putting out the Dustbin'', with

Sheila Hancock Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and musica ...

. "Last Cigarette", a song from the album about failing to give up smoking became a minor hit. In 1968, rock band Reflection released ''The Present Tense (Songs of Sydney Carter)'', incorporating his poetry and songs. In 1972, a collection of his poems, ''Love More or Less'', was described in a review by Michael Grosvenor Myer in the

EFDSS The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

magazine ''English Dance and Song'' as the work of "an impressive spokesman for the believer in an age of general unbelief". He continued to work with Donald Swann, writing six songs for the 1964 Donald Swann EP, ''Songs of Faith and Doubt''. In the 1960s he also worked as a critic for '' Gramophone'' magazine. In 1965 Carter wrote the six-song EP album ''Lord of the Dance'' with Martin Carthy on guitar, the Johnny Scott Trio and the Mike Sammes singers. He also worked with

Nadia Cattouse Nadia Evadne Cattouse (born 2 November 1924) is a Belizean-born British actress, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her acting roles in many British television programmes including ''Play for Today, Crown Court, Dixon of Dock Green'' ...

and

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

. In 1972 Carter presented a series of concerts in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Franciscus Henri Franciscus Henricus Antheunis, professionally known as Franciscus Henri (born 7 August 1947, The Hague, The Netherlands), is a musician and children's entertainer. He has dual Dutch and Australian nationality. In 1970 he gained national promine ...

who accompanied him recorded an anthology of Carter's songs and poems ('' Nothing Fixed or Final'') in 2005. Also in 1972, Bob and Carole Pegg recorded a collection of his songs with him, ''And Now It Is So Early.'' In 1981, an all-star collection of English folk musicians released ''Lovely in the Dances'', a compilation of his songs. Performers included

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Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

, and John Kirkpatrick.

References

Bibliography

* ''Nothing Fixed or Final'' (1969) * ''Love More or Less'' (1971) * ''The Two-Way Clock'' (''Nothing Fixed or Final'' and ''Love More or Less'' with 29 additional poems (1974) * ''The Rock of Doubt'' (1978) * ''Dance in the Dark'' (1980)

External links

Sydney Carter

at Stainer & Bell Obituary: The Telegraph

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Sydney 1915 births 2004 deaths People from Camden Town People educated at Christ's Hospital British conscientious objectors People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit English Quakers English songwriters English nonconformist hymnwriters English male poets Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 20th-century English male writers

Biography

Career

See also

References

Bibliography

External links