Concert 3: Cries of London

with Academy of English Voices

Orlando Gibbons Cries of London
Ralph Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
Stephen Dodgson Hymn to Harmony
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast

at Smith Square Hall, London SW1P 3HA (formerly St John’s Smith Square)

The third concert in the series opens with Gibbons’ earthy Cries of London depicting the sometimes vividly raucous street vendors of his time. Next follows Vaughan Williams’ lyrical Serenade to Music, whose 16 soloists pay homage through Shakespeare’s text to the power and beauty of music. We continue to honour London composer Stephen Dodgson’s centenary with his Hymn to Harmony for upper-voice choir, which sets William Congreve’s text likewise celebrating music (‘The secret force of tuneful Sound’) and honouring its patron saint, Cecilia. The concert ends in a spirit of festivity captured by an under-celebrated British Black composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, in his Feast of Hiawatha.  

Join conductor James Henshaw for an enlightening pre-concert talk at 5.30pm, free for all ticket holders.  

Part of the Stephen Dodgson Centenary