Crickhowell Choral Society’s November 26th concert – Toward the Light – will be a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Best known for The Lark Ascending and Tallis Fantasia  his music has been a backdrop to cultural life in our country for over 100 years.

Although he referred to himself as “a cheerful agnostic”, much of RVW’s music has religion at its core. And so our programme will explore the composer’s beliefs as well as his music in something of a spiritual pilgrimage.

Toward the Light will also celebrate local talent with Tomos Owen Jones, one of the Choir’s first choral scholars, joining us as the baritone soloist and therefore very much at the front of RVW’s 1911 setting of poet George Herbert’s Five Mystical Songs. The work is something of a classic amongst choirs with contrasting moods that feature so many of the attributes that have come to be associated with the composer; the love of folksong, plainsong, and a sprinkling of French impressionism.

Less well known than his Mystical Songs is Toward the Unknown Region, RVW’s first major choral work and one that placed him firmly on the musical map. The music, combined with the humanistic poetry of Walt Whitman, is a haunting and ultimately uplifting  vision of a new age of adventurous human endeavour. These aspirational climaxes – described as “transcendent timelessness” – were to become something of a hallmark of the composer’s style.