The Choral Pilgrimage 2025: York

In an age of resurgent conflict and frenetic demands on our attention, a slice of tranquillity in many forms courtesy of luminous, purifying music traversing six centuries. From the enraptured songs of the medieval abbess Hildegard of Bingen to the magical realm of a brandnew work by Anna Clyne, music from across the centuries speak of peace and acceptance, and the ecstatic joy their reassurance can bring. The concert takes its title from words by Cardinal Newman on the challenge of existence, suggesting that life’s deepest valleys only make its highest mountains feel more wonderful.