English county landscapes have been honourably musicalised by composers in the past Somerset and Dorset by Gustav Holst, Cornwall by Bax and Hubert Bath, Shropshire by Vaughan Williams, Walton and George Butterworth, writes Hilton Tims. Now it's Surrey's turn.

Barrie Guard has portrayed the local scene in A Surrey Cantata, which will be given its first performance by Ember Choral Society at Holy Trinity Church, Claygate next Saturday (Dec 1). The choir commissioned the work with funding from the R.C. Sherriff Rosebriars Trust and gave the Thames Ditton-based composer carte blanche to choose his subject.

"I felt Surrey has been neglected in music," he explains. In literature, too, it seems. When he began research for suitable texts to set, he drew a blank. So he set to with poet Stephen Smith who has written eight verses in sonnet form.

"At first I envisaged something pastoral but Stephen's verses turned out to be much darker and more dramatic," said Barrie, "They depict historical as well as landscape effects, touching on events from the 16th century to present times, including the two world wars."

Working on it has been something of a technical departure for Barrie Guard. Most of his music is for film and television. He wrote the theme and incidental music for ITV's The Darling Buds of May.

But the lure of composing something more substantial is strong. He says: "I belong to a group of fellow composers who feel the urge.

"We aren't strictly classical composers, so we've settled for calling ourselves concert-hall types."

His only previous venture into extended choral writing was a cantata, David and Goliath, also for Ember Choral Society, 17 years ago.

A Surrey Cantata contains references to Box Hill, Leith Hill, Wisley, Camberley, Bagshot and Leatherhead.

November 23, 2001 12:30