Captain Scott writing his journal during the Terra Nova expedition Credit: SPRI
City of London Sinfonia, in collaboration with the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), will embark on an ambitious concert tour in February to celebrate the centenary of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-12. His was a poetic, as well as a scientific journey." - —Sean Street This landmark concert tour seeks to retell the inspiring human story behind this epic expedition to the South Pole through music, words and photography, and features excerpts from Vaughan Williams' film score Scott of the Antarctic, interwoven with moving readings from Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition diary and letters read by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville. The iconic music of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 7 (Sinfonia Antartica) will also be performed, alongside stunning projections of expedition photographs by Herbert Ponting, now digitally restored in high definition. At the heart of the programme is the world premiere of a new work by British composer Cecilia McDowall, entitled Seventy Degrees Below Zero. The cantata for solo voice and orchestra was inspired by a phrase written by Scott to his wife: "Dear, it is not easy to write because of the cold - 70 degrees below zero." Composer McDowall found "the restrained, personal writings of Scott, set against a backdrop of human endeavour and resilience in such inhospitable terrain, deeply affecting and a rich resource on which to draw." Featuring leading British tenor Robert Murray, the piece sets McDowall's music to words by poet Seán Street, who uses as his inspiration entries in Scott's expedition journals.
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