Abolition Song and its Legacies
- 6pm
About this event:
- Category:
- Classical Music
- Event type:
- Free | In-person
- Admission:
- Free No tickets required
- Date, time and location:
- , 6pm in Silk Street Music Hall
Event information
Abolition Song and its Legacies (ASaiL) presents the final event of its two‑year research project, bringing together music, scholarship and contemporary reflection. Alongside performances, the hour‑long programme features contributions from the project’s researchers, offering insight into the historical and musical contexts behind the work.
Eighteenth‑century British composers and musicians pioneered the use of art song and instrumental music to protest the Atlantic slave trade, creating a powerful body of Abolition Song and related instrumental works. Through archival study and practice‑based research, the ASaiL project has explored how these pieces placed the experiences of enslaved Africans — drawn from first‑person testimonies, newspaper accounts and sentimental reconstructions — at the centre of their musical storytelling.
Much of the music performed this evening has received its present‑day premiere through ASaiL, offering audiences a rare opportunity to hear these works anew and consider their legacies today.
Free, no tickets required.
Venue information
Silk Street Theatre, Music Hall and Lecture Recital Room are located in the main Guildhall School building on Silk Street and for Barbican produced events the venue can also be accessed from the Barbican if you exit via the doors next to Barbican Kitchen on Level G.
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Silk Street
Barbican
EC2Y 8DT
