Journey Through Landscape and Spirit

On March 28, 2006 the Salomon Orchestra is joining forces with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus at the Lighthouse Arts Centre, Poole in concert of music by Edward Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Richard Blackford.

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The evening opens with Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings. Composed in 1892, this work was one of Elgar’s first compositions with which he was truly satisfied. It was written as a third-anniversary gift for his wife, Alice, and its “piacevole” (pleasant) character reflects an intimate, lyrical charm. While Elgar’s most well-known music is often considered archetypically English, this early masterpiece shows a composer still finding his voice.

There is a sense of personal and spiritual reflection in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs. Although the composer described himself as a “cheerful agnostic,” he was profoundly moved by the 17th-century verse of the Welsh poet and priest George Herbert. These songs are essentially quiet, personal meditations that explore a soul’s relationship with the divine. The cycle moves through moments of delicate stillness—particularly in “The Call,” where the chorus remains silent—before erupting into “Antiphon,” a triumphant hymn of praise that demands “Let all the world in every corner sing”.

The centrepiece of the concert is the premiere of Richard Blackford’s The Black Lake. This work draws its visceral power from Caradog Prichard’s novel One Moonlit Night, a “lost contemporary classic” widely hailed as the greatest Welsh novel ever written. Set in a slate-quarrying village, Prichard’s story is a gothic, melancholy exploration of a boy’s transition into adulthood and the sadness of parental insanity. Blackford, an Ivor Novello winner known for his ability to write beautiful and touching music on themes of suffering and memory, provides a musical landscape for this vanished way of life.

Each of these works reveals the power of the “spirit of place” and the resonance of the written word. Whether through Herbert’s 17th-century piety, Prichard’s haunting Welsh village, or Elgar’s Worcestershire countryside, the music serves as a bridge between memory and the present moment. This is a rare opportunity to witness a modern masterpiece find its voice alongside the pillars of the English tradition.

Tickets

The Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Founded in 1911, this Grammy Award-winning ensemble has a massive international reputation, having toured from Israel to Chicago. Under the direction of Gavin Carr, they have a long-standing creative partnership with Richard Blackford, who serves as their President and has composed multiple award-winning works specifically for their voices.