The Sporting Life

Voice-and-fiddle duo Alva (Vivien Ellis and Giles Lewin) presents a programme of ballads and popular tunes on a sporting theme, having searched through the vast legacy of printed verse and music compilations, or 'miscellanies', to find long-lost songs offering insights into eighteenth-century attitudes to such timeless diversions as wrestling, boxing, cricket and horseracing, as well as forgotten sports such as stoolball, cudgels and quarterstaff. (Note: at 3.30pm, a pre-concert talk – 'A Very British Exercise' – Dr Abigail Williams explores the background to Alva's programme.)