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Details
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore
Kensington
London
SW7 2AP
England
Programme
Ralph Vaughan Williams – A Sea Symphony
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry – I Was Glad
Edward Elgar – Enigma Variations, Op.36
Performers
Ivor Setterfield – Conductor
Philippa Boyle – soprano
James Newby – baritone
Barts Choir
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme Note
PRIMARY CONTENT
Barts Choir is proud to present a celebratory programme of English Classical and Choral music to honour the 900th anniversary of Barts Hospital in 2023 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor, Ivor Setterfield.
A Sea Symphony Ralph Vaughan Williams
Enigma Variations Edward Elgar
I was glad Hubert Parry
With this performance, we are supporting the fundraising activities of Barts Charity.
“Behold, the sea itself”! With a brass fanfare and this dramatic choral declamation, Vaughan Williams launches A Sea Symphony, his first and longest symphony, on a wave of sound. He set words by the American poet Walt Whitman depicting the sea in all its aspects, reflecting, in doing so, on the larger questions of humankind’s place in nature and the cosmos, art, and exploration (spiritual as well as physical).
A Sea Symphony is complemented by two other British classics:
Elgar’s Enigma Variations, in which he presents musical depictions of ‘my friends pictured within’ (actually starting with his wife and ending with himself); and
Parry’s I was glad, written for Edward VII’s coronation in 1902, heard at all coronations since and doubtless to be heard again during this Coronation year.
The evening promises to be a joyous event in appreciation of Barts Hospital through whom our choir was founded 58 years ago.
