Northern Chords Festival: Nature and Folk

Tonight’s program invites us into a world where music draws its breath from the natural landscape and the voices of folk tradition. Across cultures and centuries, composers have turned to the rhythms of the earth—rustling forests, open skies, and the pulse of dance—to shape melodies that feel both deeply personal and universally familiar. Folk music, with its raw energy and storytelling spirit, meets the evocative power of nature, creating soundscapes that are at once vivid and timeless.

At the heart of this journey stands the Violin Concerto in D major by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a work that captures both the lyric sweep of the natural world and the spirited character of dance. From its soaring opening to its electrifying finale, the concerto blends heartfelt song with folk-inspired vitality, culminating in a dazzling celebration of virtuosity and joy.

Konstantia Gourzi “message between trees”
R.Vaughan-Williams The Lark Ascending
G.Holst St. Paul’s Suite

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P.Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (in a special arrangement for string orchestra)

Benjamin Baker violin
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Northern Chords Festival Strings

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Host or Publisher Northern Chords Festival