The Marian Consort: The Language of Flowers

PART OF OUR ‘NATURAL WORLD’ SERIES

We welcome back stunning vocal ensemble The Marian Consort for this musical exploration of flowers and gardens.

The evening combines evocative music from the Spanish Renaissance that evokes a lush, fertile landscape with Benjamin Britten’s popular, playful ‘Flower Songs’, composed as a present for two keen botanists.

Alongside all this are three brand new pieces. Laura Cannell brings early music, folk and experimental music together in an exploration of plant folklore, while Leo Chadburn, a composer whose music spans experimental, electronic, pop, and classical, has been inspired by the meaning and symbolism of flowers for his new piece.

Finally, as part of our work with local schools, we welcome students to perform a new composition by Electra Perivolaris, known for her ‘razor-sharp musical imagination’

Preview the concert with our Spotify playlist:

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The Marian Consort is a vocal ensemble that presents bold and thrilling performances for audiences across the UK, Europe and North America. Led by founder and director, Rory McCleery, the group is composed of the very best singers in a flexible, intimate ensemble, allowing clarity of texture and subtlety of interpretation that illuminates the music for audience and performer alike. TMC features regularly on BBC Radio 3, and has released twelve recordings to critical acclaim, praised for ‘precision and pellucid textures’ (The Times).

Hailed as ‘brilliant discoverers, and exponents, of rare repertoire’ (The Observer), The Marian Consort performs music from the fifteenth century to the present day, with a focus on bringing to light and championing lesser-known works by composers such as Vicente Lusitano, Raffaella Aleotti, and Jean Maillard, reinvigorating their music for today’s listeners. Creating new music is of vital importance to TMC, and in recent years it has commissioned Electra Perivolaris, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Roderick Williams, David Fennessy, and Ben Rowarth.

The Marian Consort is a pioneer of projects which take audiences beyond the confines of the traditional concert, most notably ‘Breaking the Rules’, a staged concert-drama based on the life and crimes of Carlo Gesualdo called ‘daring and vivid’ by The Guardian. Other highlights include a debut at the BBC Proms; performances in the Bascule Chamber underneath London’s Tower Bridge; the premiere of Dani Howard’s ‘Unbound’ at Three Choirs Festival; and a Wigmore Hall recital presented in partnership with BBC Radio 3. The Marian Consort will make its debut tour of Japan in 2023.