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Finding inspiration: paintings, poetry, visual art

Our four featured composers talk about what inspired them here.

They walked in the landscape, and used poetry, writing, paintings and visual art.

We've put together a selection of Stimuli for you to use as a starting point for your own music:

Poems by Val Whittington
Paintings, prints and photographs from the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Photographs by Sam Moore

South Downs Photos by Sam Moore
taken from his film 'South Downs: A Celebration'.
Watch the film here.

SouthDownsGrabs (15)-Seven Sisters copy

SouthDownsGrabs (15)-Seven Sisters copy

Describe your image

SouthDownsGrabs (18)-Mount Caburn copy

SouthDownsGrabs (18)-Mount Caburn copy

SouthDownsGrabs (19)-Ditchling Beacon copy

SouthDownsGrabs (19)-Ditchling Beacon copy

SouthDownsGrabs (15)-Seven Sisters copy

SouthDownsGrabs (15)-Seven Sisters copy

Describe your image

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Amy Sawyer Landscape Appliquéd Jacket

Amy Sawyer: Landscape Appliquéd Jacket Image credit: Tessa Hallmann

Charles Knight: Court Farm (painting)

Charles Knight: The Pond, Ditchling. Reproduced by kind permission of the estate of Charles Knight. Photo: Sara Morris

Frank Brangwyn: The Tree at Ditchling (painting)

Frank Brangwyn: The Tree at Ditchling

John Vernon Lord: 'The Ondt and the Grasshopper' (drawing)

John Vernon Lord: 'The Ondt and the Grasshopper' Finnegans Wake, by James Joyce (edited by Danis Rose and John O'Hanlon) The Folio Society, 2014.

Eric Gill Ditchling and Windmills (woodblock)

Eric Gill: Ditchling and Windmills (woodblock)

Jenny Kilbride spinning in the weaving workshop, Ditchling (photograph)

Jenny Kilbride spinning in the weaving workshop, Ditchling

Edgar Holloway: Ditchling Workshop

Edgar Holloway: Ditchling Workshop

Philip Hagreen, Where We Are Map, 1933.

Philip Hagreen, Where We Are Map, 1933.

Unknown artist: Oldland Mill windmill (painting)

Unknown artist: Oldland Mill windmill

Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft:
art inspired by the South Downs

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Click here to read Val Whittington's inspiring poetry about the South Downs
Evelyn Ficarra used Val's poems for her piece 'What Larks'.

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Contact Us

South Downs Songbook

Produced by Orchestra of Sound and Light for New Music Players

E-mail: lizwebbmanagement [at] gmail.com

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