A Sea Symphony with Exeter Philharmonic Choir

Exeter University Great Hall, Exeter

Composed between 1903 and 1909, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony was a landmark in British music and one of the first major symphonies to place the chorus at the heart of the work.

Drawing its text from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, it explores themes of humanity, nature, spirituality and discovery, with the sea symbolising life’s journey and the search for meaning. Vaughan Williams demands both immense power and great sensitivity from the chorus and soloists, creating music of extraordinary emotional ranger.

Rick in melody, colour and imagination, A Sea Symphony remains one of Vaughan Williams’ most ambitious achievements and one of the crowning works of the British choral repertoire.