As part of the Southbank Centre’s year-long festival The Rest Is Noise which celebrates the ideas and individuals that shaped 20th-century music they will be turning the spotlight on folk music in February for a weekend of events under the title of The Rise of Nationalism.
The weekend will explore the rise of interest in folk music and culture in the early 20th century through intimate discussions and films, to talks with some of the greatest thinkers of our time. Some of the weekend highlights include a talk from the Godmother of English folk music Shirley Collins who will be talking about the birth of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
There are whistle-stop 15-minute bite-sized talks covering the need-to-know topics from the weekend such as:
“Did the invention of the recording cylinder bring folk music to the fore or just let composers steal other people’s ideas?”
You can also join top speakers for in-depth discussions such as –
How and why did composers embrace their folk traditions? Tom Service, The Guardian’s music critic, tells us.
There will also be live music from the Northern Sinfonia and Kathryn Tickell, a double headliner from Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes and Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends and more,
Day passes can be booked for just £12 or £20 for a weekend pass if booked before the end of Thursday 31 January.