The Scott Centenary Concert Tour
featuring
City of London Sinfonia and Ben Fogle
A Celebration in music, words and pictures
'Glittering, atmospheric playing from the City of London Sinfonia'
Hugh Canning Sunday Times
THE CONCERTS
As part of the Scott 100 Festival of Events, which will commemorate the centenary of the British Antarctic Expedition in the period January to March 2012, The City of London Sinfonia and the Scott Polar Research Institute have together devised a programme of music and projected photography to be narrated by Ben Fogle, who will read excerpts from Captain Scott's diary and the last letters of the polar party. British composer Cecilia McDowall has been commissioned to write a Cantata of approximately 15 minutes for 5 solo voices, female choir and orchestra for the occasion. The second half of the programme will include the iconic music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose film score for the 1947 film Scott of the Antarctic (later turned into his Symphony No. 7) depicts the vast wilderness and beauty of the Antarctic. SPRI will provide a stunning selection of iconic images by the expedition photographer Herbert Ponting, now digitally restored in high definition to be projected during the performance.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Excerpts from Scott of the Antarctic film score (with readings from diaries and letters)
CECILIA McDOWALL Cantata for orchestra and voices: Seventy Degrees Below Zero (world première)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No 7 (Antarctica) projecting original photographs taken during the Expedition
Stephen Layton (conductor), Ben Fogle(narrator), The Holst Singers
The tour
CLS will tour 5 regional venues in the UK:
Symphony Hall, Birmingham 3 February 2012
Symphony Hall, Birmingham 4 February 2012
St David's Hall, Cardiff 7 February 2012
Town Hall, Cheltenham 8 February 2012
Cadogan Hall, London 3 March 2012
Background
In June 1910, Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his team of sixty-four men set out on their ship Terra Nova from London via Cardiff (where they stocked up on coal) to reach the Antarctic. The twin aims of the expedition were to achieve the South Pole for Britain and to undertake a comprehensive scientific survey of the continent. In the first year, huge quantities of scientific data were collected, vast areas were mapped and depots of food and fuel were laid in preparation for the journey to the Pole. In January 1912, Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Evans attained the South Pole, only to find that the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen had beaten them to their goal. Having achieved their aim, the Polar Party began the long march back to base. P.O. Evans died during the descent of the Beardmore Glacier. With supplies running low, Captain Oates walked out of the tent into a snowstorm, with the immortal words 'I'm just going outside and may be some time,' sacrificing himself in the hope that his companions would have sufficient rations left to return home. Trapped by terrifying blizzard conditions only 11 nautical miles from the depot which represented safety, Scott and his remaining companions, Wilson and Bowers, are believed to have perished on 29 March 1912. Knowing that they were dying, the men wrote moving letters to their loved ones, which are now preserved in the Polar Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute.
City of London Sinfonia
Now in its 40th year, City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is on the threshold of an exciting new era with the recent appointment of its artistic leaders, Stephen Layton (Artistic Director & Principal Conductor) and Michael Collins (Principal Conductor).
CLS is one of the UK's best-regarded chamber orchestras, having earned a reputation for consistently high quality performances and recordings, often with a particular focus on music featuring the human voice in works for chorus, solo voice and narrator. The Orchestra performs throughout the UK, with regular London appearances at Cadogan Hall, the Barbican, St Paul's Cathedral and other City of London churches and venues. It has been resident orchestra at the capital's popular festival Opera Holland Park since 2004.
With long-standing residencies in High Wycombe and Chatham, it is a regular guest at major UK festivals. It also offers inventive Crash Bang Wallop! family concerts with a strong emphasis on audience engagement and participation in core musical pieces.
Education programme
CLS musicians work creatively in schools and community projects in the acclaimed Meet the Music programme, with a particular focus on the field of health and wellbeing. The acclaimed Development through Music scheme offers professional skills training – through the medium of music – to companies worldwide.
CLS musicians spend over one hundred days each year in schools and community venues and the outreach component of this project is very important to the Orchestra. SPRI has a wide range of educational resources and has committed both members of staff and practical resources to support our musicians in delivering workshops around the themes of the concert.
We will work with one local primary school per concert venue, selected in conjunction with sponsors. Children will learn about Scott's life and work and explore his legacy and relevance today, based on themes of conservation and exploration. Pupils will compose music to complement the visual images, using slides as a stimulus for creativity and listening to passages from Vaughan Williams' original background music for the 1947 film Scott of the Antarctic. These workshops will be aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 11.