Sinfonia Antartica

Vaughan Williams, 1951

Vaughan Williams’ seventh symphony, Sinfonia Antartica, originated in his music for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic, telling of Robert Scott’s tragic expedition to the South Pole in 1912.

The symphony gathered together the main themes of the film score, but moved beyond the simply pictorial to a wider vision of humanity’s struggle against the forces of nature, with each movement prefaced by a literary quotation.

The work makes use of vast orchestral forces, including an organ, a wind-machine, and a soprano and women’s chorus which represent the wordless voices of the Antarctic blizzards.

See 'Sinfonia Antartica' live:

Thu 22 May 2008, 7:30pm
Royal Festival Hall, London (find out more)

Fri 11 July 2008, 7:30pm
Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury (find out more)