So, I’m going to run a series of daily #britsymphyear posts throughout 2025, focusing on key premieres, composers & events of British/Irish classical music from c 1900. onwards. I’ve only planned about 30% of it so far so… But, there will be an accompanying Spotify playlist!

Score video:

Written during his happiest years, it contrasts tragically with his later decline and untimely death in 1930, underscoring the poignancy of this masterpiece.

In Warlock’s life, The Curlew stands as a summation of his artistic ideals: an intense union of poetry and music, imbued with modal lyricism and psychological depth.

This was the same ensemble from the Warlock Memorial Concert at Wigmore Hall earlier that year & remains a landmark in early British recording history.

The 1st recording was made in March 1931 by the National Gramophonic Society, featuring John Armstrong (tenor), Robert Murchie (flute), Terence MacDonagh (cor anglais), & the International String Quartet, conducted by Constant Lambert.

The work’s genesis was deeply personal. Warlock had long admired Yeats & even sought his permission to set the poems—a request granted only after the cycle won the Carnegie Award in 1923, which praised its “keen feeling for harmonic colour” & imaginative response to the text.

The cycle’s melancholy tone & modal inflections reflect both Yeats’s Celtic twilight imagery & Warlock’s own fascination with folk traditions & mysticism.

The Curlew is regarded as his finest work—a cycle for tenor, flute, cor anglais, & string quartet, setting poems by WB Yeats. Warlock (born Philip Heseltine) composed it at his family home in Wales, Cefn Bryntalch, during one of the most settled & productive periods of his life.

Warlock wrote to a friend that, “for the first time in my life I really feel pleased with something I have written,” despite his dissatisfaction with the singer. A 2nd performance followed in January 1923 with John Goss, which Warlock considered far superior.

Premiered #OTD in 1922, the song cycle The Curlew by English composer, Peter Warlock. The performance took place at London’s Hyde Park Hotel, sung by Philip Wilson. https://t.co/1F6BlGy7eq #britsymphyear

Score video:

The work’s connection to Kennedy’s death gave it international significance, but its emotional depth and craftsmanship ensure its enduring place in the choral canon.

Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing stands as a late Howells masterpiece, written when he was in his early 70s. It reflects his lifelong ability to transform grief into transcendent beauty, a theme that runs through much of his music.

The 1st recording appeared in the late 1960s with the Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, conducted by George Guest, & has since been recorded widely, incl King’s College & Westminster Cathedral. These recordings have helped establish it in the Anglican choral repertoire.

Howells, who had long been associated with memorial music—most famously his Hymnus Paradisi written after the death of his son—poured profound grief & consolation into this motet. Its rich harmonic language & soaring vocal lines evoke both personal sorrow & universal lament.

The premiere was performed by the Washington National Cathedral Choir under Paul Callaway. The service was attended by dignitaries & members of the Kennedy family, giving the work an immediate historical & emotional weight.

Howells chose a text by the poet Prudentius, translated by Helen Waddell, which meditates on the burial of the dead & the hope of resurrection, perfectly suited to the solemn occasion.

It was commissioned by the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service held on 6 June 1964, marking the 1st anniversary of Kennedy’s death.

Died #OTD in 1963, the 35th US President, John F Kennedy. Herbert Howells’ Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing was composed in response to the assassination. https://t.co/5Upc6M9SsW #britsymphyear

Score video: