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TURNING POINT is a film installation and Black heritage comedy melodrama telling four stories set in 1920s Barbados and Jamaica. As part of the research for the film, Sweet Patootee Arts utilised the world’s oldest surviving sheet music from Barbados, a rare written record of the music and song that enslaved people would have sung in the late eighteenth century.
TURNING POINT features two original interpretations of this unique, scarcely-known and deeply poignant music, ‘The Barbados Slaves’ Work Song’ (c 1780). The interpretations were recorded by a group of volunteers, helmed by professional singer Simone Ibbett-Brown.
The first version is a steady call and response, which imagines workers pacing themselves to do repetitive manual labour in 80-90 degree heat.
The second version is an up-beat call and response game, imagining returning to the village after the working day, using the song to revive spirits.
You can view the notation below.
In 2024, as part of the TURNING POINT heritage programme, these songs were performed in our Caribbean Folk Song Workshops helmed by opera singer Abigail Kelly. Watch the performances below, and find out more about the workshops here.
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