For the final, glorious concert in the 2017 Isle of Ely Arts Festival, Ely Choral Society, Ely Consort and Ely Sinfonia join forces to perform a concert that truly evokes the magic and mystery of the Fens and Ely Cathedral.
The concert starts with "In the Fen Country", Vaughan Williams's magical portrayal of the bleak landscape and wide open spaces of the East Anglian Fens. Vaughan Williams knew the Fens well, first as a student at Cambridge University and then as a collector of English folk songs.
What more fitting place than Ely Cathedral for Beethoven's "Symphony no 9 in D minor". The first ever major choral symphony, it is one of the best-known works in the classical music repertoire and will sound stunning in the extraordinary acoustic of the Fens' own cathedral.
Finally, we are proud to be giving the world première of Andrew Parnell’s "Fenland Images". Reflecting this year’s Isle of Ely Festival theme of “The Fens” and based on poems by local writers, it illustrates a modern-day agricultural scene, the timeless daily round of worship in St Etheldreda’s monastery and the shadowy characters who once inhabited the Fens. It has been composed for the Isle of Ely Arts Festival thanks to a grant from the Arts Council of Great Britain.
With Peyee Chen (Soprano) Freya Jacklin (Mezzo Soprano), Michael Solomon Williams (Tenor) and Laurence Williams (Bass-Baritone). Conductors Steve Bingham and Andrew Parnell.
