Albion choral group to perform underground at Peak Cavern

Albion Underground II is a unique choral installation taking place inside a Peak District hillside.
Albion choir perform underground at Peak Cavern, Castleton.Albion choir perform underground at Peak Cavern, Castleton.
Albion choir perform underground at Peak Cavern, Castleton.

It brings together Albion’s distinctive new music with dramatic, inventive choreography and a compelling narrated guided tour.

Peak Cavern – the “Devil’s Arse” – has the largest natural cave entrance in the UK and contains a series of dramatic chambers including the back-breaking Lumbago Walk, the vast

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Great Cave, and the Devil’s Staircase, which descends to the unseen River Styx below…

Albion Underground reveals these special spaces in a new light this weekend, as singers and audience retrace the steps of the first intrepid explorers. Bearing lanterns, Albion surround the

audience with singing on every side, drawing them to look and listen in every direction.

Alongside this, “tales of exploration” are captivatingly presented by Irene Healy, long-standing Cavern tour guide.

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All of the music is new – composed or arranged by Albion within the last four years – but it draws on the ancient musical traditions of “these islands”, Britain and Ireland. Shining arrangements of Jerusalem and The Skye Boat Song sit alongside new settings of He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven and A Gaelic Blessing.

Working without sheet music or conductor, the 12 Albion singers move freely throughout the caves, liberating music from the concert hall and bringing it into the world, Singers and audience are brought together by the music, making for an intimate audience experience described as “stunning, ethereal, amazing”.

There are just four performances of this event: on Saturday, September 26, at 7.30pm and 9pm and on Sunday, September 27, at 6pm and 7.30pm.

Tickets £15, available online at: peakcavern.co.uk