Vaughan Williams’ year in Saffron Walden

Granta Chorale - directed by Janet Wheeler

Sophia Kannathasan - violin

Richard Carr - piano and organ

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) had a long composing career, and wrote some of Britain's best-loved music. In this, his 150th anniversary year, Granta Chorale presents a concert of words and music, celebrating the man and his musical legacy.

The concert programme looks at how the Great War of 1914-18 interrupted his and the nation's life. Private Vaughan Williams, now an ambulance wagon orderly, found himself in 1915 stationed in our own town of Saffron Walden. Our programme features up-and-coming violinist Sophia Kannathasan playing The Lark Ascending, in the original violin and piano version. Written by Vaughan Williams in 1914, but not performed until 1920, The Lark Ascending depicts a rural idyll that had since been shattered by war. Granta Chorale will sing his Mass in G minor, composed in 1921, not long after…