Thursday 28 June 2012
Ian Brown
St Mary’s Church, Henley: 7.30pm
with the choir and organist of St Mary's
Conductor: Ian Brown
Orlando Gough: Overture
A selection of pieces from the Shiplake concert – to be confirmed
Overture by Orlando Gough
This Overture was specially commissioned by Making Music for the London 2012 Festival – the finale of the Cultural Olympiad.
Gough wrote the Overture with his friend, the Guyanese/British poet John Agard. Here is a short extract from his introduction to the piece, which he has called 'Traditional values'.
"Our piece looks at three very traditional, rather John Majorish, aspects of Britishness – tea, the weather and cricket – and reconsiders them. The tone is affectionate, ironic and celebratory, and the music is suffused with influences of pop music, gospel, reggae, calypso, bhangra and qawwali. What is really being celebrated here, I think, is not so much tea, the weather and cricket themselves but stoicism, tolerance, adaptability, irony and, by the myriad influences on the music, diversity – some of our great national characteristics."
Directions to St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church is situated at the east end of Hart Street (by the bridge) in central Henley.
Spaces in front of the church are reserved for disabled visitors but there are car parks close by just off Greys Road and King's Road (behind Waitrose).
Postcode: RG9 2AU