VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: A SEA SYMPHONY

Behold, the sea! 150 choral voices to mark Vaughan Williams’s 150^th anniversary with major concert at Worcester Cathedral

Hundreds of music lovers are expected to dive in to a special, sea-themed concert at Worcester Cathedral on Saturday 26 November at 7.30pm, when the 150 voices of Worcester Festival Choral Society – one of the region’s most respected choirs – perform one of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s great choral works to mark his 150^th birthday.

The concert includes two, early-20^th century choral masterpieces, both paying homage to the ocean and set to verses from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass poetry collection. Top of the bill is Vaughan Williams’ first and best-loved choral symphony, A Sea Symphony – staged by popular demand after the Choral Society’s originally planned, sell-out 2020 performance of the work had to be cancelled at the start of the pandemic.

Ben Cooper, Chairman of Worcester Festival Choral Society, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to re-stage A Sea Symphony. Listening to it is like taking a musical voyage. You can picture every aspect of the ocean, from the exciting opening brass fanfare announcing that first glimpse of the sea, to the final, distant notes disappearing over the horizon.”

The concert also includes Sea Drift by Frederick Delius, a moving story of love set against a seascape backdrop. Performing with Worcester Festival Choral Society will be renowned soprano Sarah Fox and baritone Andrew Mayor. The Meridian Sinfonia symphony orchestra accompanies, and Worcester Cathedral’s Director of Music Samuel Hudson will conduct.

The Choral Society’s two other concerts in its 2022-23 season are Handel’s Messiah on 10 December, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius on 18 March 2023; both at Worcester Cathedral, 7.30pm.

Established in 1861 and closely associated with Sir Edward Elgar in its early years, Worcester Festival Choral Society’s 150 auditioned singers are drawn from across the County. The Society holds three major concerts in Worcester Cathedral each season, performing many of ‘the choral greats’. It also holds an annual one-day ‘Come and Sing’ workshop open to all amateur singers. Many of the Society’s members are also selected for the prestigious Three Choirs Festival Chorus each summer.

A Sea Symphony concert tickets are available from www.wfcs.online and TicketSource: 0333 666 3366.

 

Ticket prices start from £15. 

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