The Dymock Poets Re-Imagined, 2023-2024



 

Hereford Chamber Choir present The Dymock Poets Re-imagined! This is our most ambitious project so far. 

 

What is the "Dymock Poets Re-Imagined" concert series?

Hereford Chamber Choir commissioned seven composers to compose choral settings of poems by the Dymock Poets. To critical acclaim, our first performance was at Ledbury Poetry Festival on 8 July 2023. The concert will be repeated at the Hay Festival 2024 and at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester 2024. 

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Who are the Dymock Poets?

The Dymock Poets are Robert Frost (1864–1973), Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), Edward Thomas (1878–1917), Wilfred Wilson Gibson (1878–1962), and John Drinkwater (1882–1937).  Robert Frost’s poems include Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (which was read at a recent Hereford Chamber Choir concert), After Apple-Picking, and The Road Not Taken.  Rupert Brooke wrote The Old Vicarage, Grantchester (with the lines “Stands the Church clock at ten to three? And is there honey still for tea?”). Edward Thomas is perhaps particularly known for I Remember Adlestrop. At least 19 of his poems were set to music, for solo voice, by the Gloucester composer Ivor Gurney.  

 

Who are the 7 commissioned composers?  

• Kerensa Briggs. Kerensa has previously written several pieces for Hereford Chamber Choir, and her father, David Briggs, used to direct the choir.  We performed her piece A Tender Shoot at our Christmas concert.

• Liz Dilnot Johnson. Liz is a local composer, living in the Malvern Hills area.

• Fraz Ireland. Fraz is a composer from Gloucester. She was a Britten-Pears Young Artist in 2020.

• Esther Kay. Esther sings alto in Hereford Chamber Choir and lives near Ledbury.

• Robert Peate. Robert grew up in Dymock. We performed his piece Two Souls at the Three Choirs Festival in July 2022.

• Simon Peberdy. Simon is Hereford Chamber Choir's regular accompanist.

• Dr Susanna Self. Suzie is the granddaughter of John Drinkwater, one of the Dymock poets. She has previously set four of his poems for mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe and piano.  

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