Ruth Gipps’ dramatic cantata Goblin Market, inspired by Christina Rossetti’s iconic poem, is to be performed and professionally recorded by the all-female UK vocal ensemble Corra Sound.
The live performance will take place on Friday 3rd July at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford with the programme set to feature additional Rossetti settings by other notable 20th century composers. A pre-concert conversation with Gipps’s daughter-in-law Dr Victoria Rowe and prominent writer and critic Jessica Duchen, will offer rare insight into the composer’s life.
The landmark recording, partnering with the Great Little Orchestra and Convivium Records, will take place on Saturday 11th July with a release date scheduled for the beginning of 2027. Corra Sound has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the production costs of the performance and recording, inviting the public to contribute to the project, helping to bring this important work to a global audience.
This ambitious venture marks the historic and long-awaited world premiere recording of this powerful masterpiece, rich in themes of temptation, sisterhood, and female solidarity, and will be only the second UK performance of the work in 70 years. The project stands as a threefold celebration of female creativity bringing together the iconic poetry of Christina Rossetti, the masterful and long-overlooked choral writing of Ruth Gipps, and the voices of Corra Sound – an upper voice ensemble dedicated to bringing the works of female composers out of the shadows.
“Ruth Gipps was a formidable force – a composer, conductor, and advocate who carved out space for women in a profession that frequently excluded them,” says Dr Amy Bebbington, Corra Sound Founder and Director. “By performing and recording this work, we are highlighting a lineage of female creativity that has been side-lined for too long. Goblin Market is brimming with colour and emotional intensity and demands to be heard.”
“Corra Sound is an outstanding ensemble, brilliantly led,” says Neil Ferris, Director of the BBC Symphony Chorus. “This project forms an important part of their pioneering mission to uncover new repertoire and celebrate the works of often little-known female composers. The work they do is both ground-breaking and utterly essential to our choral music landscape.”
Dr Leah Broad, award-winning British musicologist says: “Gipps was prodigiously gifted and fearlessly determined and yet her impact on British music as both conductor and composer is still yet to be fully realised. This vital project by Corra Sound is a much-needed step towards redressing some of this historical imbalance, and bringing to light an important work in our musical heritage.”
Ruth Gipps’ daughter-in-law, Dr Victoria Rowe, says “We are so grateful to Corra Sound for their vital role in preserving and championing Gipps’ musical legacy, bringing her work to a wider audience and ensuring that she finally gets the recognition she deserves.”
You can book tickets to the concert online at Eventbrite.