A choir from Blackburn will hold a tribute concert to who is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era.
Gerard Manley Hopkins was a poet and Jesuit priest whose literary work has been studied in schools for decades.
This spring, people can experience the poetry at Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, where Hopkins taught Greek and Latin for several years.
In honour of his influence, Blackburn Chamber Choir, based at Blackburn Cathedral, is performing musical settings of some of Hopkins’ well-loved poems alongside readings of his works and other linked pieces.
Choir director John Robinson said: “The most significant poet to have lived and worked in Lancashire, Hopkins' poetry has inspired some extraordinary music.
“His genius changed the face of English literature for everyone who followed him, inventing as he did a new, unique, associative and rhythmic language which is in itself melodic.
“Read aloud, Hopkins' poetry is unnervingly profound and raw, and so its interaction with music is fascinating.”
The concert will be repeated at Blackburn Cathedral, with a pre-concert talk by the Bishop of Blackburn-designate and current Bishop of Burnley, Rt Rev Philip North.
The events take the name of one of the poems ‘God’s Grandeur’ and are on Saturday, April 1 at Stonyhurst College, and on Wednesday, April 5 at Blackburn Cathedral, both starting at 7.30pm.
Hopkins' first literary promotor, Robert Bridges, who was Poet Laureate, was himself set by a number of significant English composers.
Numerous letters between Hopkins and Bridges about Stonyhurst have survived. The concerts include settings of texts by both poets.
Tickets are £12 for the Stonyhurst College concert and £15 and £10 for the Blackburn Cathedral concert. Children under 18 are free.
Tickets are available at blackburnchamberchoir.org.
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