Vaughan Williams was a man of contradictions, not least as an agnostic with a profound sense and desire for the spiritual. He found his voice as he sought out, preserved and assimilated the folksongs of England, finding in them a simplicity of musical expression a world away from the music of Empire, and then transforming that material into profound high art, capable of speaking to and for a nation in a way his Edwardian predecessors no longer could.

Our programme showcases the influences of his teachers Parry and Stanford which he absorbed but gradually left behind. It includes some of his folksong arrangements, and some of his finest spiritual music – the Mass in G Minor, first performed 100 years ago almost to the day, and the anthem O God our help in ages past.