Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
Date: Saturday 21 May 2022, 19:30
Venue: Cadogan Hall (Tickets are now available here from the venue’s website.)
‘We too take ship O soul, Joyous we too launch out on a trackless sea.’ Constanza Chorus joins forces with the London Mozart Players to take you on a voyage through three great British works allowing you to experience the beauty, the magic and the danger of the sea.
Our journey begins with The Shipping Forecast, Cecilia McDowall’s innovative choral work that skilfully weaves together poetry, Psalm 107 (‘They that go down to the sea in ships’) and the words of the Shipping Forecast to create a work that reflects the mystery and force of the sea. We then make our way to the Glamorganshire coast, where Grace Williams shows us five different characters of the sea in her string suite Sea Sketches.
The performance culminates with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ folk-inspired masterpiece A Sea Symphony, which sets to music poems by Walt Whitman. It is one of the first choral symphonies where the chorus plays a central role throughout the piece, from its majestic fanfare-like opening to the calm depiction of the ship vanishing over the horizon sailing us to its conclusion.
Constanza Chorus is a Central London choir led by charismatic conductor Joanna Tomlinson. The choir strives for musical excellence and has a special emphasis on singer development while offering its members a sociable and relaxed atmosphere and, in the tradition of Vaughan Williams, recognising the potential of choral singing to build a community. A Sea Symphony is Constanza’s return to the big stage after the pandemic and an opportunity for the choir to show its versatility and lush sound.
