Vaughan Williams’s 'The Lark Ascending' | ACO 2020

Collaboration and experimentation lie at the heart of everything we do at the ACO. So in a year where we mark 30 years of artistic leadership with Richard Tognetti, and 250 years of enduring musical influence by Beethoven, we decided to celebrate these milestones by commissioning a series of short films, inspired by our musicians and the music in our 2020 Season.

This is artist Martina Stiftinger's creative response to Vaughan Williams’s 'The Lark Ascending', created in collaboration with ACO Principal Violin Helena Rathbone.

“Suddenly you'll see this bird just take off vertically, miles up into the air, singing this incredible song. That's what Vaughan Williams was depicting” - The Musician, Helena Rathbone

“I wanted to capture the poetic act of ascending in the form of a feather floating upwards into the air.” - The Artist, Martina Stiftinger