Orchestra of the Swan: Midwinter

Midwinter represents a symbolic dividing line – a sacred moment at the year’s end where old gives way to new, despair transforms into hope and darkness becomes light. Since prehistory, humans have celebrated this transition in rituals, often involving food and drink, dancing and music. The midwinter solstice represents that elemental moment when the sun is reborn – its significance, still to this day, not lost on humanity.

This programme’s musical pendulum swings between the ancient and the contemporary, the religious and the secular, the familiar and the unknown. The evening will also include readings of pieces by T.S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, Robert Macfarlane, Emily Dickinson, Dylan Thomas and Nan Shepherd.

We warmly invite you to participate in this unique seasonal journey which illustrates just how rich and captivating a tradition there is in relation to midwinter.

Director: David Le Page