#1 MUSICAL LANDSCAPES

If walking in the countryside makes you hum with joy you’re not alone, as these five amazing pieces of music prove! And we’ve gathered them on a Spotify playlist for your listening pleasure at www.bit.ly/

cwplaylist1 – enjoy! FOUR SEA INTERLUDES Benjamin Britten This issue we’re exploring the Suffolk landscapes that inspired Britten’s work (see page 72) so we open with the stirring orchestral interludes from his Suffolk-set seaside opera Peter Grimes. It consists of four scene-setting movements: Dawn, Sunday Morning, Morning Moonlight and Storm. All of them will sound incredible on a walk through Snape Marshes or out on the beach at Aldeburgh. BAILÈRO FROM CHANTS D’AUVERGNE Joseph Canteloube Canteloube assembled and orchestrated folk songs from the gorgeous Auvergne region of France, and the rustic, sweeping Bailèro has become the most well known. Its beautiful soprano lyric has been sung by the likes of Sarah Brightman, Katherine Jenkins and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. APPALACHIAN SPRING Aaron Copland Composed in 1944 using a 19th century melody, Appalachian

Spring is often hailed as the definitive American rustic symphony and a celebration of springtime (although in the original poem from which Copland borrowed the title, the ‘spring’ is a river source rather than the season). In 1963 the melody was adapted to become the hymn Lord of the Dance. MEADOW OF DELIGHT AND SADNESS John Barry Originally known as a jazz maestro and then as the man behind the Bond movie scores, York-born John Barry produced a fabulous soundtrack-without-a-movie called The Beyondness of Things in 1998, and if this pulse-racing track from it doesn’t set you galloping across the plains of Idaho (or even the Vale of York), you probably aren’t human. POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE Sir Edward Elgar Elgar lived within sight of the Malvern Hills, taking inspiration from long walks along their ten-mile backbone. They influenced most of his work, particularly March No 1 of Pomp

and Circumstance in 1901. A year later it was adapted with lyrics to become Land of Hope and Glory. Stand atop Worcestershire Beacon listening to it, and you might wish you’d brought a flag.