Rollicking sailors’ songs come to life in Shanties!, a digital concert by Chor Leoni and La Nef
The rousing performance helps explain why #ShantyTok is a thing
Chor Leoni Men’s Choir led by Erick Lichte and La Nef perform shanties at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Photo by Jan Gates
La Nef and Chor Leoni Men’s Choir present Shanties!, premiering March 6 at 5 pm PST and available for viewing on YouTube until March 14
THANKS TO 26-year-old Nathan Evans posting a video of him singing “Wellerman” on TikTok, the centuries-old sea shanty has become the biggest song of the year. The former mail carrier’s clip went viral, the tune taking on a life of its own as people around the globe added their own harmonies and remixes. Evans has since landed a recording contract with Polygon, and millions have the simple, crazily catchy song stuck in their heads.
Long before #ShantyTok became a thing, Vancouver’s Chor Leoni Men’s Choir had delved into the catalogue of maritime music going back to the 16th century. Just before COVID-19 took hold last year, the Juno-nominated ensemble collaborated with Montreal’s La Nef for a performance of sea songs—haunting laments and feel-good foot-stompers—presented by Early Music Vancouver. Now, the groups are bringing that spirited concert for more than 60 voices back, in digital form, with Shanties!, running March 6 to 14 on YouTube.
“Little did we know in February 2020 that we would be performing and recording our final concert of the year,” says Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte. “We also had no idea that, one year later, these shanties would be the centre of a worldwide musical craze. These sea songs are buoyant, driving, and devilishly catchy. They also speak of travel, adventure, and missing loved ones who are far away—all things I think we have on our minds and in our hearts here in 2021. It is no wonder to me that shanties have become the musical genre of the year.”
Seán Dagher, one of La Nef’s musical directors—who performs and composes music from various folk and classical music traditions, including Celtic, Baroque, Medieval, Arabic, French-Canadian, and Maritime—is intimately familiar with sea shanties; on top of his professional work, he has been singing them in Irish pubs for some 25 years.
In 2012, Dagher and six other musicians worked with video-game company Ubisoft to create the soundtrack for Assassin’s Creed III, followed by Black Flag in 2013 and Rogue in 2014. The songs took off. That success convinced La Nef to bring the group together for a 2014 concert, which was nominated for three Opus Awards (Quebec Music Industry Awards), winning Creation of the Year for “Leave her Johnny”. (It’s one of the songs featured in Shanties!) La Nef went on to release the album Sea Songs & Shanties and had been touring intensively until the pandemic struck.
Shanties were made for hard work—to help crews on sailing ships synchronize movements required for gruelling tasks like hoisting sails. A shantyman would sing an easy-to-remember verse and others would respond in unifying rhythm. The tunes also helped pass time and lift spirits during long days at sea, and their revival speaks to pandemic times. A few months into global health crisis, with Dagher’s gigs being cancelled, he launched a YouTube series called Shanty of the Week, which now has more than 10,000 subscribers.
“I can’t believe how much it means to people,” Dagher tells Stir. “A lot of people are saying things like ‘it’s the highlight of my week’ or ‘it’s getting me through a tough time.’ Obviously here we are stuck alone at home, not able to get together. These songs are all about getting together and are for getting together.”
That said, the appeal of seafaring tunes is timeless, Dagher says. “I think these songs resonate all the time,” he says. “When the video game came out, the songs exploded then, too. Young people, gamers, took to the songs. It’s something fun for people.”
Seán Dagher of La Nef performing with Chor Leoni Men’s Choir. Photo by Jan Gates
Shanties! captures a one-night-only collaboration in February 2020 when Chor Leoni joined La Nef to expand their popular music with new arrangements and vocal orchestrations, the idea for the concert devised by Matthew White, former artistic director of Early Music Vancouver. The primary source of the music for the concert comes from Stan Hugill’s Shanties by the Seven Seas, a collection of more than 400 sea songs that includes historical context of each song. The program’s repertoire is drawn from all over the world, including England, Scotland, Ireland, Estonia, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Originally presented at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, it was filmed in high definition and with the Chan Centre’s exceptional sound.
The opportunity to join with Chor Leoni was a thrill for performers of La Nef, Dagher says—and he’s confident that their shared exuberance will come through in the digital presentation.
“It was incredible,” Dagher says. “I’m used to getting up in front of people and clowning around, but singing with 60 of your best friends behind you is something else. We had big sound. We had done the same concert in Winnipeg the week before with an eight-voice men’s choir. We knew what to expect musically but we couldn’t be prepared for the scope, the grand scale, the ampleur.”
This cross-Canada collaboration will provide home viewers with opportunities to sing along—to follow the bouncing ball, so to speak.
“I was, at first, really excited to have Chor Leoni and a concert of Shanties presented under the banner of early music,” Lichte tells Stir. “I think early music sometime gets thought of as one type of music coming from one type of culture. I loved that shanties help explode the possibilities of what early music can be.
“I am starting to call this collaboration Fancy Shanties around my house,” he says. “The mix of solo voices, incredible instrumentalists, Sean’s arrangements and the sound of 60 men singing is something to behold and brings Shanties well beyond the TikTok craze. I think these songs sweep us away at a time when we all feel a little stuck. This concert was our last before the lockdown, and something truly magic happened that night. I am so glad it has been captured and that we can share it.”
La Nef and Chor Leonie Men's Choir present Shanties for free, with donations to support Chor Leoni accepted. For more information and to RSVP, visit Chor Leoni.
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