Invisible Waves

Our festival artists perform a unique programme that weaves a musical line across nine centuries.

Sun 5 Jul 2026

, 12:00 pm

About

Set within the vast medieval Tithe Barn, Invisible Waves is one of the most quietly ambitious concerts of the weekend. Bringing together many of the festival’s artists, it traces a musical thread across nine centuries – from the earliest echoes of medieval chant and Machaut, through Byrd, Bach and Handel, to the shifting sound worlds of Birtwistle, Ades and music of today.

The programme unfolds along a timeline that mirrors the history of the barn itself, capturing the essence of its English rural setting – each musical contribution from an English composer or reimagined by one. Ancient and modern sit side by side in a single, flowing journey. It’s an invitation to hear connections across centuries, and to experience how music carries its past forward into the present.

Programme

Full programme announced:

Organum music from 13th C sources in South West England, arranged for strings and bass voice

Christian Mason – ‘In a world of invisible waves: a butterfly’, for solo piano (2016)

Guillaume de Machaut/Harrison Birtwistle – ‘Amen’ from ‘Machaut a ma manière’ arranged for piano (1350/1988)

JS Bach – Contrapunctus for String Quartet, reimagined by Harrison Birtwistle (1740/2014)

GF Handel – Violin Sonata in D major, Finale (1749)

Imogen Holst – ‘Fall of the leaf’ for solo cello, 2nd mvt (1963)

William Byrd – ‘Walsingham’, arranged for keyboard and cello (circa 1580)

Henry Purcell – ‘Hear my prayer’, arranged for string octet (1690)

–        Short interval

Joseph Havlat – Mozart improvisations in the manner of Mozart’s prodigal London performances aged 9 (1765/2026)

Edward Elgar – ‘Virelai’ from 3 pieces opus 4 (1885)

Rebecca Clarke – ‘Grotesque’ for viola and cello (1916)

Joseph Haydn – Piano Trio in Eb, Finale (1797)

John Bull – ‘Ut, re, mi, fa, so, la’, arranged for string quartet (circa 1595)

Organum music from 14th century sources in South West England

Thomas Ades – ‘Darknesse visible’ after John Dowland, for piano solo (1992)

William Walton – Piano quartet, finale (1919)

Event Information

Event Information

Venue

Tithe Barn, Church Street, Abbotsbury, Dorset, DT3 4JJ

Date

Sun 5 Jul 2026

Time

12:00 pm

- 1:30 pm

£20 (excluding booking fee)

Meet Some of the Musicians Performing at the Festival

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Invisible Waves

Sun 5 Jul 2026

Our festival artists perform a unique programme that weaves a musical line across nine centuries.

Learn more