The Spirit of England

Both Elgar and Vaughan Williams were deeply affected by the turmoil and suffering caused by the First World War. Elgar composed Carillon in 1914 to support the Belgian Fund raising effort. His setting of three of Laurence Binyon’s war poems in The Spirit of England, first performed in 1917, is a moving tribute not only to the many who suffered and died, but also to their women left at home.

Vaughan Williams’s Toward the Unknown Region (1906) sets a mystical poem by Walt Whitman about the journey of the soul, whilst The Lark Ascending, first sketched in 1914, is hauntingly beautiful.

We are very fortunate to be joined by two internationally known soloists for this performance. Laura Samuel is leader of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Nash Ensemble and is also renowned as a soloist. Janice Watson is one of the world’s major sopranos. She has performed in most major opera houses of the world and has also sung many times at Promenade Concerts.