Spring Song 2026: The Story of English Song

Sunday, 15 March 2026, 11am
The New Space, Gradel Quadrangles, Mansfield Road

Benjamin Britten’s cycle of Thomas Hardy settings, Winter Words, forms the focus of this study day in which Katy Hamilton also explores Britten’s place within the English song tradition. From parlour ballads of the late nineteenth century to contemporary works for voice and piano, this is a chance to discover the story of English song over the last 150 years – and the vital role of Britten in its development. The talk will be illustrated with live performances by former Oxford Song Young Artists Rosie Lavery and Anna Michels, who will perform songs from the first few decades of the twentieth century and excerpts from Winter Words ahead of Mark Padmore's performance of the full cycle later in the day. Katy Hamilton will also be joined in conversation by Harriet Burns, Ian Tindale and Mark Padmore.
 

Programme
Liza Lehmann: If no one ever marries me (1900)
George Butterworth: The lads in their hundreds (1911) from Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad
Rebecca Clarke: The Aspidistra
Benjamin Britten: As it is, plenty from On This Island
Benjamin Britten: Down by the Salley Gardens (1943)

*****

Gerald Finzi: Proud Songsters (1935) Op. 15 no.10 from Earth and Air and Rain
Benjamin Britten: Winter Words (1953) Op. 52
At day-close in November
Midnight on the Great Western - 'The journeying boy'
Wagtail and baby - 'A satire'
The little old table
The choirmaster's burial - 'The tenor man's story'
Proud Songsters - 'Thrushes, finches and nightingales
At the railway station, Upway - 'The convict and the boy with the violin'
Before life and after

Purchase tickets for this concert here.