Open Session: A New Poly-Olbion

Poly-Olbion is an expansive poetic journey through the landscape, history, traditions and customs of early modern England and Wales, first published in 1612. In this experimental project Songs 19 and 20 (Suffolk and Norfolk) are edited into a libretto for female voice and piano and interwoven with a specially-commissioned spoken word piece which revisits the rivers, hills, towns and landmarks referenced in the original. Clare McCaldin sings Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s settings of the Jacobean texts: playwright, poet and performer John Constable performs his own words, giving voice to the contemporary landscape.