Whiddon Autumn Festival: Devon

Festival Director Freddie Crowley conducts Ensemble-in-Residence the Corvus Consort in a fascinating exploration of composers’ responses to the poetry of 17th-century English metaphysical poet George Herbert (1593-1633).

Through a sumptuous selection of choral music by Judith Weir, Alec Roth, Roxanna Panufnik and James MacMillan, the musicians reveal how George Herbert’s words have provided inspiration to a whole generation of composers.

Finally, the Corvus Consort is joined by baritone soloist George Clark, Harry Baker (piano), Louise Thomson (harp) and the Festival String Quartet, to perform perhaps the most famous setting of Herbert’s poetry: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s magnificent Five Mystical Songs.