Copland's 'Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson', Milton Court

A colourful programme of American music brings together one of the UK’s finest ensembles with one of its finest voices. Tracing a path from Copland to Carter , the Britten Sinfonia offer samples of some of America’s greatest composers.

Aaron Copland is arguably the father of American music, and his Appalachian Spring established a sound which has influenced generations of composers from across the pond ever since. 

Jazz and folk tunes rub shoulders in music which is at once stark, beautiful, and bursting with life. His Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson also seem quintessentially American: Copland’s settings of the nineteenth-century poet embraces a range of characters, from soaring lyricism tinged with wistfulness, to bold vocal gestures accompanied by animated instrumental figures.

Traces of Copland can be uncovered in Elliott Carter’s Elegy for Strings and Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings, yet both composers bear the influence in very different ways. Whereas Carter chooses to explore the blossoming lyricism, Crawford Seeger delves further into the melancholy which underpins the composer’s music. 

The programme is completed by Richard Rodney Bennett, an English composer who adopted New York as his home: A History of Thé Dansant is a playful look back at three dance forms from the early 20th century.

Known for their fresh and exciting performances, the Britten Sinfonia are the perfect ensemble for this repertoire. Mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly is currently at the top of her career, gaining effusive praise in opera hall and recital alike for her luxurious, creamy voice. Don’t miss out on this all-star programme; book now.