Errollyn Wallen

Explore themes of slavery and freedom as Errollyn Wallen combines spirituals with contemporary classical techniques.

Spirituals were introduced to Hull in 1871 by the Fisk Jubilee Singers: an African-American a cappella choir of ex-slaves. Commissioned to mark the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, Mighty River takes inspiration from William Wilberforce. An English politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade, Wilberforce was, fittingly, a native of Hull.

Errollyn Wallen MBE is equally at ease as a singer-songwriter of pop-influenced songs, an Ivor Novello award-winning composer of contemporary new music and the librettist of 15 operas. She describes her own Ensemble X with the motto, ‘We don’t break down barriers in music – we don’t see any.’

Speaking about Mighty River, Wallen says that:

‘Composing for the orchestra is my favourite challenge [and this] work is an especially important one for me. It is an innate human instinct to be free, just as it is a law of nature that the river should rush headlong to the sea. That is the concept behind Mighty River.

‘Slavery claimed the lives of countless people, but somehow my ancestors found the grit and determination to persist in spite of the conditions in which they found themselves. I dedicate Mighty River to my great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother. Though I never knew her, I am driven on by her courage in the face of dreadful odds and am inspired by her example not merely to survive, but to thrive.’

Presented in association with the PRS Foundation.