Join us for an evening of exquisite art song in the stunning surroundings of Leighton House, as exceptional performers bring to life a unique programme that bridges two rich musical cultures - British and Ukrainian - through the lens of poetry. "Let the Florid Music Praise" explores shared themes of love, nature, travel, and longing for home, tracing poetic connections across borders and time.

 

The programme features evocative settings of Shakespeare, two strikingly different musical interpretations of Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias - one by Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshynsky, the other by British composer James Francis Brown, as well as Verlaine's Clair de Lune in a luminous Ukrainian setting. The concert culminates in a stirring performance of Jerusalem, celebrating love for homeland.

 

With several UK premieres and a world premiere, this is a one-of-a-kind evening for lovers of poetry, song, and cultural dialogue, presented by a superb line-up of artists.

 

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Pianist:  Richard Black

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PROGRAMME

 

Fanfare

Let the florid music praise – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

 

Look, stranger

Seascape – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)                       

A Drooping Sunflower+ – Yuliy Meytus (1903-1997)           

I rose at dawn+ – Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912)      

 

Distant lands

The vagabond – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)          

I’ll sail upon the dog star – Henry Purcell (1659-1695)       

Ode to a Swallow – Ostap Nyzhankivsky (1863-1919)      

Ozymandias+ – Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968)     

Ozymandias – James Francis Brown (b.1969) 

 

Reflections on roses

Should only roses bloom?+ – Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912)        

Like to the damask rose  - Edward Elgar (1857-1934)       

 

Love’s joys and sorrows 1

Ballad – James MacMillan (b.1959)                         

Sonnet++ – Myroslav Volynsky (b.1955)

The Roadside Fire – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

When two must part+ – Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912)

 

The glories of this day

Sound the trumpet -- Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

 

Life’s melancholy

Blow, blow thou winter wind – Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Foretell my Destiny – Myroslav Volynsky (b.1955)

 

Love’s joys and sorrows 2

O mistress mine – Roger Quilter (1877-1953)     

Like the song of the nightingale+ – Yuliy Meytus (1903-1997)      

Sonnet+ – Yuliy Meytus (1903-1997)          

Come away, death – Roger Quilter (1877-1953)                

 

Enchantment, moonlight and evening

Morhana+ – Kyrylo Stetsenko (1882-1922)               

The Seal Man --- Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)                          

La Lune Blanche+ – Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968)                    

Evening+ – Yakiv Stepovy (1883-1921)                      

 

The power of art and music

Sonnet+ – Vasyl Barvinsky (1888-1963)                                        

Bright is the ring of words – R.Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

 

O clouds unfold

A floating cloud+ – Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912)

Jerusalem – Hubert Parry (1848-1918)

 

 

++ World Premiere                        + British Premiere

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