Opera Prelude: Forever England: English Song in the years of the First World War

Soprano: Francesca Chiejina,Tenor: James Way
Piano: Natalie Burch

100 years on from the end of the First World War, Opera Prelude Young Artists invite you to an evening gala event at Leighton House, celebrating English Song and in particular the work of William Denis Browne who, whilst at Cambridge, was in the chorus of the Wasps (1909) which famously featured music by the up-and-coming Ralph Vaughan Williams. He also played through Hugh the Drover and On Wenlock Edge whilst Vaughan Williams was still working on them.
Vaughan Williams wrote Browne a reference describing him as having "a most musical nature and his artistic judgment and perception are remarkable."

This concert programme seeks to explore Browne’s song repertoire alongside that of other English song composers in and around the years of the First World War. English song is celebrated for its simplicity, pastoral nature and warmth of colour and, so it is interesting to explore this in the light of the global trauma out of which so much of it sprung.

Taking Browne’s Isle of Lost Dreams as a starting point the evening will include works by Quilter, Gurney, Vaughan Williams, and many others.

Opera Prelude is a small charity about supporting young professional opera singers who give lecture recitals in London. These friendly and inclusive events will introduce you to the international opera singers of tomorrow by way of recitals, concerts and masterclasses.