Ensemble Hesperi
A Gift for your Garden
St Magnus International Festival
Wed, 26 June 2024
St Magnus Cathedral 
1:00pm
£22 (£20 concessions)
Full Event Details
The Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann, one of the most prolific composers of all time, created a much-envied garden later in life at his Hamburg residence. Always searching for new and unusual specimens, he wrote on many occasions to his good friend Handel in London, asking for plants from England. “I am insatiable”, he wrote, “where hyacinths and tulips are concerned, greedy for ranunculi, and especially for anemones.” In London, the Scottish composer James Oswald was also no stranger to the mid-eighteenth-century craze for plants. His illustrious patron, Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Augusta, curated an impressive collection of exotic plants at Kew Palace, now Kew Botanical Gardens, which may very well have been Oswald’s inspiration for his “Airs for the Seasons”. This programme presents a cornucopia of music by Telemann and his horticultural correspondents, framed by charming airs by Oswald depicting Telemann’s own floral favourites.
Venue Details & Map
Location
St Magnus Cathedral
Broad Street, Kirkwall, KW15 1HE, United Kingdom
Related upcoming events
The Music Party
- Tue, 7 July 2026
- National Centre for Early Music, York
- 12:30pm
- £15 (conc. available)
- York Early Music Festival
Baroque Bridges
- Tue, 18 August 2026
- St Mary's Church, Bathwick
- 7:30pm
- £20 (conc. available)
- ➕1 other performance
Previous performances
A Gift for your Garden
- Sun, 2 July 2023
- De Jager Auditorium, Trinity College, Oxford
- 2:30pm
- £15, concessions available
A Gift for your Garden
- Sun, 22 October 2023
- The Angel Centre, Worcester
- 3:30pm
- £18
A Gift for your Garden
- Fri, 14 February 2025
- Bridport Arts Centre
- 11:30am
- Tickets: £16, £14 conc, £5 child, u12 free
- Concerts in the West
A Gift for your Garden
- Fri, 14 February 2025
- Ilminster Arts Centre
- 7:30pm
- £20 (concessions available)
- Concerts in the West
A Gift for your Garden
- Sat, 15 February 2025
- The Dance House, Crewkerne
- 7:30pm
- £20 (concessions available)
- Concerts in the West
A Gift for your Garden
- Wed, 25 February 2026
- The Corn Exchange | Dorchester
- 7:30pm
- £20; full-time students £5
- Dorset Museum Music Society
A Gift for your Garden
- Sat, 7 March 2026
- National Centre for Early Music, York
- 12:00pm
- £12 (£10 conc | £5 students)
- Baroque+ Day
A Gift for your Garden
- Fri, 17 April 2026
- Champs Hill House, Pulborough
- 7:30pm
- £20
- Champs Hill House
A Gift for your Garden
- Sat, 2 May 2026
- Banstead Community Hall
- 7:30pm
- £20
- Banstead Arts Festival Society
A Gift for your Garden
- Sun, 3 May 2026
- St Michael the Archangel, Mere, Warminster
- 5:00pm
- £25
A Gift for your Garden
- Tue, 19 May 2026
- Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames
- 3:00pm
- £15 - £25
- Chiltern Arts Festival
A Gift for your Garden
- Sat, 23 May 2026
- Tithe Barn, Priory Garden
- 3:00pm
- £20 incl traditional cream tea
- Dunster Festival
A Gift for your Garden
- Sun, 7 June 2026
- All Saints Church, Farringdon
- 6:30pm
- £20 (conc. available)
- Music in Country Churches