Alexander Pope Anniversary Concert

Pope’s Grotto Preservation Trust invites you to an evening of music commemorating the poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham, where Pope's final resting place is marked by a plain stone in the aisle . This will be the first of our celebrations to mark the tercentenary of Pope’s arrival in Twickenham.

The Petersham Consort will perform several pieces by his friends and contemporaries including Handel, Bononcini, Arne, and Purcell. There will also be pieces by Charles Parry, John Ireland and Roger Quilter.

The choir of Radnor House School, within whose grounds the grotto lies, will perform a short programme of music from the same period and will also perform a contemporary setting of Pope’s poem 'Sound and Sense' in a contemporary setting by the School's composition workshop. There will be short introductions by Judith Hawley, professor of 18th century literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the Reverend Jeff Hopkin Williams, vicar of St Mary's.