Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
Serenade to Music
Finzi: God is Gone Up
Eclogue
Tavener: Song for Athene
Baritone: Daniel Tate
Piano / Organ: Alex Aitken
Conductor: Mark Jordan
In this varied and exciting programme exploring the musical and the spiritual, we present a variety of music to both calm and rouse the soul.
The programme features two well-known works by Ralph Vaughan Williams; Five Mystical Songs, and Serenade to Music.
Five Mystical Songs, for baritone solo and optional (!) choir are settings text by 16th Century metaphysical poet George Herbert, while Serenade to Music explores discussions about music and the music of the spheres with text fromThe Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.
We complete the concert with music by John Tavener – Song for Athene, heard at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales – and Gerald Finzi; his triumphant God is gone up (words by the metaphysical poet Edward Taylor) and his meditative Eclogue – the exquisite slow movement of his unfinished piano concerto.
