Specially commissioned for the soprano Ruby Hughes, a young mother herself, the work sets to music poems about the joy and pain of parenthood, taken from Fiona Benson's Bright Travellers.
'It was always like this,' wrote Benson in Breastfeeding from the 2014 anthology. 'A long line of women / sitting and kneeling, / out of their skins / with love and exhaustion.' Other poems in Bright Travellers include Childbed and Cradlecap. Since the classical music world is still dominated by male conductors and composers, if not players, women will particularly enjoy this rare exploration of little recorded parts of life.
Other works include songs by Schumann and Mahler's moving Kindertotenlieder, before, in the second half of the programme, songs by Charles Ives that include Songs My Mother Taught Me. Helen Grime's Bright Travellers is followed by four songs by Benjamin Britten.
A highly recommended evening for those who know there is more to life than music's well-worn male themes.
Before the concert in a pre-concert talk at 6pm, Helen Grime and Fiona Benson talk about parenthood, motherhood and their roles in creating art.
| What | Songs for New Life & Love, Wigmore Hall |
| Where | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Bond Street (underground) |
| When |
On 15 Feb 18, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM |
| Price | £15 - £38 |
| Website | Click here for more information and booking |
