Hertfordshire Chorus, Newcastle Choral Society, Orchestra North East (ONE), Ruth Jenkins-Robertsson, Ashley Riches, David Temple, Mark Anyan

This concert features A Sea Symphony, one of the great choral works by Vaughan Williams and the northern premiere of the critically acclaimed Codebreaker, written by James McCarthy, one of our most talented contemporary composers.

After a short brass fanfare, the choir declare “Behold, the sea itself!”. So begins Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, conjuring up a vision of panoramic horizons and brave voyages, using atmospheric poetry by Walt Whitman. Our combined choirs will bring the drama and poignancy of one of our favourite choral pieces to this performance.

James McCarthy’s Codebreaker which was commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus, is dramatic, emotional and memorable work about the tragic life of Alan Turing, famous for breaking the German’s Enigma code during World War II which possibly shortened the war by two years. Codebreaker focuses on three key periods in Turing’s life; his relationship with his school friend Christopher Morcom, the war, and his final hours. The libretto for Codebreaker includes some of Turing’s own words as well as some beautifully pointed and moving extracts from the works of Wilfred Owen, Sara Teasdale, Edward Thomas, Robert Burns and Oscar Wilde.