Programme Details
This programme explores the relationship between 17th-century metaphysical poetry and 20th-century British choral tradition.
At its heart are Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and Finzi’s sacred choral work, Welcome Sweet and Sacred Feast. Featured too is the melancholic poetry of Walter de la Mare in Howells’ haunting song, King David, presented here in Iain Farrington’s innovative arrangement for choir and piano.
Alongside this, we present two other contemporary arrangements: Howells’ lesser-known Sine Nomine in a chamber version by Iain Farrington, and Caroline Shaw’s and the swallow arranged by Piers Kennedy for choir and strings.
HOWELLS arr Iain Farrington King David
HOWELLS arr Iain Farrington Sine Nomine
CAROLINE SHAW arr Piers Kennedy and the swallow
FINZI Welcome Sweet and Sacred Feast
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Five Mystical Songs
George Herbert piano
William Clark violin soloist
Chloe Bowers-Soriano violin
Shurong Zhang viola
Doraly Gill cello
Tilde Gardemar double bass
Tom Butler baritone soloist
Charlie Swann soprano soloist
Philippe Durrant tenor soloist
Susie Hill director
