Conquering the Antarctic - The People: Henry Bowers

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Our Conquering the Antarctic tour celebrates the achievements of Captain Scott, the most well-known of the five-man party that reached the South Pole a hundred years ago in 1912. But what of the other four men Scott selected to accompany him to the Pole? They were Wilson, Bowers, Evans and Oates. Over the next four days, we profile the other members of Scott's team, today focusing on Henry 'Birdie' Bowers.

 

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Lieutenant Henry Bowers

Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1883. He became a merchant seaman, but later enlisted in the Royal Indian Marine Service and served in Sri Lanka and Burma. He was selected out of 8000 people to join the Terra Nova expedition, and employed by Captain Scott on the advice of a mutual friend. In the tropics, he had impressed others by seeming unaffected by the heat. In the Antarctic weather, he was also impressively hardy: the only man who could sleep with his face outside the sleeping bag.

Despite initially failing to impress Scott, young Bowers, at only 5ft4in tall and nicknamed 'Birdie' because of his beak-like nose, soon proved his worth as a member of the team. He was light-hearted and had an excellent sense of humour, which could be detected in his diaries which went on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute in 2010.

At the very last minute, Scott selected Bowers to join the party to trek to the South Pole, which meant that the five-man team had to squeeze into a four-man tent. Some have said that Scott included Bowers thanks to his navigation skills, which seems likely since it was Bowers who pinpointed the exact location of the Pole. It was also Bowers whose “sharp eyes” spied the black flag in the distance that heralded the Terra Nova team’s defeat by Amundsen’s Norwegian party. After the demoralising return journey, Bowers was one of the last two remaining team members who it is believed, died alongside Scott in March 1912.


 Conquering the Antarctic - the Scott Centenary Concert Tour

 A celebration in music, words and images

Stephen Layton, conductor
Robert Murray, tenor
Hugh Bonneville, narrator

3-8 February and 3 March 2012

Conquering the Antarctic - The People: Captain Lawrence Oates

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Our Conquering the Antarctic tour celebrates the achievements of Captain Scott, the most well-known of the five-man party that reached the South Pole a hundred years ago in 1912. But what of the other four men Scott selected to accompany him to the Pole? They were Wilson, Bowers, Evans and Oates. Over the next four days, we profile the other members of Scott’s team, focusing today on Lawrence Oates. 

 

Captain Lawrence Oates

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Born in Putney, London, in 1880, Lawrence ‘Titus’ Oates was the only representative of the Army in the polar party. He had served in the Second Boer War as a junior officer in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. In March 1901, he suffered a gunshot wound to his thigh which left it shattered and his left leg an inch shorter than his right. He was promoted to Captain in 1906, and applied to join Captain Scott’s expedition in 1910.

Scott’s plans included using ponies for pulling sledges, and he accepted Oates on to the expedition partly to take care of the animals during the voyage and exploration. However Oates was highly unimpressed with the horses Scott had selected, writing in his diary “Scott's ignorance about marching with animals is colossal .”  Indeed, Oates and Scott disagreed violently about many things and had wildly opposite personalities. Scott said of Oates in his journal “The Soldier takes a gloomy view of everything, but I’ve come to see that this is a characteristic of him.” In the end, the ponies proved highly unsuitable for the Antarctic conditions and were killed and eaten.

Oates has gone down in history for the manner of his death. His feet had become severely frostbitten and it has been suggested that his war wound had re-opened in the freezing conditions. On March 15 1912, aware that he was slowing the three remaining team members down, Oates asked to be left behind in his sleeping bag, which the others refused to do. In the tent on the following morning, the morning of his 32nd birthday, he declared "I am just going outside and may be some time." Without enduring the pain and effort of putting his boots on, he then walked out of the camp to certain death in −40 °F (−40 °C) temperatures. Scott wrote in his diary, "We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and and an English gentleman."


 Conquering the Antarctic - the Scott Centenary Concert Tour

 A celebration in music, words and images

Stephen Layton, conductor
Robert Murray, tenor
Hugh Bonneville, narrator

3-8 February and 3 March 2012


 

Conquering the Antarctic - The People: Edgar Evans

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Our Conquering the Antarctic tour celebrates the achievements of Captain Scott, the most well-known of the five-man party that reached the South Pole a hundred years ago in 1912. But what of the other four men Scott selected to accompany him to the Pole? They were Wilson, Bowers, Evans and Oates. Over the next four days, we profile the other members of Scott’s team, focusing today on Edgar Evans.

 

Edgar Evans

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Edgar Evans was born in 1876 in the Gower, South Wales, and joined the Navy at the age of fifteen. He served with Captain Scott, who was then torpedo lieutentant, on the HMS Majestic in 1899. He went on to join Scott on the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-1904), before moving to Portsmouth to work as a torpedo instructor with his wife and three children.

Having been impressed during the first expedition with his capacity for hard work, Scott invited Evans to join the Terra Nova expedition.  In his journals, Scott paid tribute to his physically imposing colleague, calling Evans "a giant worker—he is responsible for every sledge, every sledge-fitting, tents, sleeping-bags, harness, and when one cannot recall a single expression of dissatisfaction with any one of these items, it shows what an invaluable assistant he has been."

On the return journey from the Pole, Evans quickly deteriorated both physically and mentally. He was six feet tall and well-built, which contributed to his suffering the most from the inadequate food supplies and frostbite. He had also sustained an injury to his hand which refused to heal. On 4 February 1912 he and Scott fell down crevasses and Evans suffered a head wound. The group’s progress slowed, and on February 17, Evans fell behind. According to Scott’s journal, the others found him "on his knees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild look in his  eyes. "  That night, he became comatose and never regained consciousness. His body still lies in the ice, near the base of the Beardmore Glacier.


 Conquering the Antarctic - the Scott Centenary Concert Tour

 A celebration in music, words and images

Stephen Layton, conductor
Robert Murray, tenor
Hugh Bonneville, narrator

3-8 February and 3 March 2012

 



Conquering the Antarctic - The People : Edward Wilson

 

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Our Conquering the Antarctic tour celebrates the achievements of Captain Scott, the most well-known of the five-man party that reached the South Pole a hundred years ago in 1912. As the inspirational leader of the team, his personal qualities, courage and charisma were reflected in his journals and letters, which provide a moving picture of the expedition that endures today.

But what of the other four men Scott selected to accompany him to the Pole? They were Wilson, Bowers, Evans and Oates. Over the next four days, we profile the other members of Scott’s team, beginning today with Dr Edward Wilson.

 


Edward Wilson

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Born in Cheltenham in 1872, Edward Wilson was an artist and naturalist, who first joined Captain Scott aboard the Discovery as Assistant Surgeon and Vertebrate Zoologist to the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-1904). In 1910 he returned to the Antarctic with Scott aboard the Terra Nova as Chief of the Scientific Staff. He was devoted to the study of Antarctic specimens and highly skilled at watercolour painting, particularly at capturing the colours, wildlife and light of the Antarctic.

‘Uncle Bill,’ as Wilson became known to the other explorers, was friendly and affectionate, and succeeded in mastering his temper thanks to a strong Christian faith. Scott selected him for the trek to the South Pole, which delighted him, and he continued his pursuit of scientific discovery even after the pole was reached, stopping with the rest of the team to collect 16kg of geological specimens.

Wilson’s is the last letter thought to have been written by any member of the polar party. Dated March 1912, the letter, written to his friend Reginald Smith, refers to his unfinished book about disease in grouse, his only regret at the time of his death. "We shall make a forlorn effort to reach the next depot but it means 22 miles and we are none of us fit to face it. I want to say how I have valued your friendship … I have no fear of death, only sorrow for my wife and for my dear people. Otherwise all is well. I should like to have seen the grouse book but it is not allowed to me. God's will be done." 

It is believed that Wilson died alongside Bowers and Scott in late March 1912. The three bodies were found in their tent by a rescue party the following November.

 

 

Conquering the Antarctic - the Scott Centenary Concert Tour

 A celebration in music, words and images

Stephen Layton, conductor
Robert Murray, tenor
Hugh Bonneville, narrator

3-8 February and 3 March 2012

 

Conquering the Antarctic - The Place

Ahead of our Conquering the Antarctic concert tour, starting next month, we're immersing ourselves in all things Antarctic. Here are some interesting facts about the most mysterious and fascinating of continents...

 

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  • The Antarctic is the world’s highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent (as well as the last to be discovered).
  • Ancient Greek geographers were the first to guess there was a large landmass around the South Pole. They named it Anti-Arkitkos (‘the opposite of the Arctic’).
  • Wind speeds of up to 351km (218 miles) per hour have been recorded.
  • In 1983, the coldest temperature ever was recorded at a freezing -89.2 degrees Celsius (-128.56 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • The distance between the UK and Antarctica is 11,000 miles (17702.784 km).
  • Ice in the middle of the continent can be up to 2500m (2 miles) thick.
  • Antarctica is more than 58 times bigger than Great Britain.
  • The pole moves with the ice at the rate of ten metres per year – each summer it has to be put back to its rightful geographical place.
  • Antarctic ice sheets store 70% of the world’s fresh water.
  • In Antarctica’s Dry Valleys, less than 6cm (2.4 in) of snow falls in a whole year.
  • Although there are no trees, more than 100 million birds nest and breed on the Antarctic.
  • Today, around 1,200 people spend the winter on Antarctica – about a third are scientists and the rest are support staff.
  • On average, ice sheets are nearly 2.5km (1.5 miles) thick – that’s the same as ten Canary Wharf towers on top of each other.
  • Thanks to high levels of oxygen in the water, sea spiders grow up to 30cm (12 in) across!

Conquering the Antarctic - the Scott Centenary Concert Tour

A celebration in music, words and images

Stephen Layton, conductor
Robert Murray, tenor
Hugh Bonneville, narrator

3-8 February and 3 March 2012

Behind the Scenes: Seventy Degrees Below Zero

This week composer Cecilia McDowall and poet Sean Street visited us to make a webcast about their involvement in our Conquering the Antarctic tour, and the new commission Seventy Degrees Below Zero. A cantata for solo tenor and orchestra, the piece sets music to Scott's final letter and two new poems written by Sean.

Here’s a taster of their fascinating insights into the creative process and the inspiration behind the new piece.

Cecilia on her inspiration for the piece:

“I visited the Scott Polar Research Institute to see the original artefacts. I witnessed such heaviness, such substance, which these men had to drag across the icy terrain.

I was moved by one letter of course, Scott's final letter to his wife Kathleen, which he addresses ‘To my widow...’..so deeply personal, but at the same time so stoical.

Looking at these notebooks: the frail-looking paper, the pencil......I have to say, every time I read it, it moves me to tears.”

Sean on the relationship between art and science:

“The blend of science and art, in whatever form, is something I think we tend to have forgotten. Actually Scott quotes a lot of poetry in his journals alongside the scientific observation.

While we have the comfort of our technologies around us, we somehow feel civilised, we somehow feel in control. But there comes a point when the whiteness, the ‘inner silence of white’ we talk about, takes over, and you’re moving beyond measurement. You’re moving into some kind of an abstract world”.

Sean on putting the record straight:

“We wanted to reflect that it’s seen too often as an heroic failure to reach the Pole, when it was a scientific expedition—we are still gleaning material from what Scott and his people gained at that trip. So it’s much bigger than just the epic trudge to the Pole and the failure.”

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Cecilia on finding her connection with the adventurers:

“While I was writing this piece, I thought ‘What on earth IS seventy degrees below zero? I know what three degrees below zero is like, but seventy?’ It helped me to find my imaginary world into their world where I could immerse myself into this cold, bleak terrain.”

Sean on the concept behind The Ice Tree [the poem which is used in the second movement]:

“I examined the documents, and the last phrase that he wrote in the journal –‘it seems a pity but I cannot write any more’...The paper had become transparent with time, with cold and with pressure... That was a direct inspiration for me to go into the second movement piece, which is the Ice Tree, which talks about the trek that paper makes from tree, and combines the idea of the trees that supply the paper with the drilling down of ice cores that we now have in science.

We are losing some of these great wildernesses. They are fragmenting. The leaves from the ice tree are falling...”

Cecilia on connecting past and present:

“I was very aware of the extraordinary extent of the research that had gone on then...I thought of this whole commission in terms of looking down the century and looking at all the scientific research that was being done. The ice core for me felt like a telescope looking back into the past. The ice tree joins the past to the present.”

Listen to the full interview here.

Conquering the Antarctic
3-8 Feb & 3 March 2012

Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, and London

In partnership with Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

*New commission supported by SPRI, The RVW Trust and The Richard Hickox Fund for New Music.

Conquering the Antarctic - In Pictures

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Our Conquering the Antarctic concert tour, a celebration of the centenary of Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole 1910-1912, in partnership with the Scott Polar Resarch Institute, Cambridge, begins this February. Alongside our performances of moving and evocative musical tributes by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Cecilia McDowall, we will be showing the stunning expedition photography of Herbert Ponting, which is remarkable for its quality and beauty.


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Ponting’s images portray the day-to-day life of the expedition, focusing on the camp from which the team made its exploratory treks. Through these pictures, we can witness the busy but methodical way the group went about conducting research in the frozen landscape, utilising cutting-edge scientific techniques and instruments. Though the expedition is now remembered for Scott’s doomed attempt to reach the South Pole, this selection of images goes some way towards conjuring up the team’s more contented and companionable times. You might have spotted some of the pictures on the BBC’s recent Frozen Planet series!

Images: SPRI, University of Cambridge

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Conquering the Antarctic
3-8 Feb & 3 March 2012
Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, and London

In partnership with Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

 

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Festive Playlist

With Christmas approaching, our thoughts have turned to festive music! We know how much you love our playlists, so we’ve put together a good mix of our favourite seasonal tunes from all across the genres. Guaranteed to put you in a festive mood!

Is there any essential listening we’ve missed?

Listen to the Spotify playlist here


Angels We Have Heard on High - traditional 

White Christmas - Bing Crosby 

In the Bleak Midwinter - Darke 

The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

Away in a Manger - traditional 

Let it Snow! - Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne 

O Holy Night - Adam 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas  - Bing Crosby 

A Hymn to the Virgin - Britten 

Once in Royal David’s City - traditional 

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love 

The Holly and the Ivy - traditional 

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues 

Walking in the Air - Howard Blake 

Hanukkah, O Hanukkah - Barenaked Ladies

Coventry Carol - traditional

Baby it’s Cold Outside - Frank Loesser

Ceremony of Carols: This Little Babe - Britten

Christmas Time - The Darkness

Silent Night - traditional

Fantasia on Christmas Carols - Vaughan Williams

Ding Dong Merrily On High - Radcliffe Woodward

Only One More Sleep - The Muppets

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL AT CITY OF LONDON SINFONIA

Who was Captain Scott?

We asked our newest Marketing recruit, Alice, to help us discover who Captain Scott really was ahead of our Conquering the Antarctic concert tour in February.

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Now remembered as a ‘race to the Pole,’ the tale of Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic from 1910-1912 has acquired the dimensions of a myth. But we are able to discover a good deal about what really happened on the expedition from Scott’s diaries, which give a vivid and moving depiction of the challenges the hard-working team faced.

Who was this man, whose personal qualities were so central to the expedition, and whose diaries, discovered by a rescue mission three months after his death, continue to provide a moving and emotive demonstration of his resolve and dignity in such unthinkable circumstances? What drove him to undertake this monumental challenge?

Born in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott joined a Royal Navy training ship at the age of thirteen. From 1900 to 1904, he commanded a British trip to the Antarctic, and from 1907-1909, Scott’s erstwhile companion Shackleton led a further British Antarctic Expedition to the Antarctic, locating the South Pole high on the ice plateau. Scott planned to finish what Shackleton had begun, and a further privately-funded expedition was raised which led to the purchase of the expedition ship, the Terra Nova, for £12,500.

Although he declared that the "main object of the expedition is to reach the South Pole and secure for the British Empire the honour of that achievement," Scott also had geological, biological and meteorological goals. The British team faced competition from the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had abandoned earlier attempts to reach the North Pole in favour of being the first to get to the South. Despite this element of competition, Scott’s diaries reveal that he refused to abandon the pursuit of science, however difficult and unrelenting the freezing conditions.

When they reached the Pole in January 1912, the malnourished and frostbitten explorers found that the Norwegian team had got there first. Some believe that tragedy would have been prevented if the British team had ‘won’—they would have been in better spirits. As it was, they all met their deaths soon after. As Scott wrote in his journal, “These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.”


To read the full version of this blog post, visit our website
Image courtesy of SPRI, University of Cambridge


Conquering the Antarctic
2-8 Feb & 3 March 2012
Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, London

CLoSer in words and pictures

Our first CLoSer concert at Village Underground on the 22nd November was a huge success with a packed audience enjoying the venue, music and fantastic musicianship on show. We thought we'd share with you some of the best photos from the night and what the audience had to say:

 "The first CLoSer programme was like a substantial sandwich: hot crusty wholemeal bread on the outside with something sweeter in the middle." 

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"Great performance - loved the informal setting and the mixed audience!" 

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 "The orchestra played on all my emotional strings." 

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"I loved the sense of excitement, the bar, the lighting, the chatter and the informal approach of the musicians and conductor. Acoustics were great too."

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 "Give us more!!"

The next concert in the series focuses on vocal music by Bach, Poulenc and Stravinsky with Guest Artists the Holst Singers and our Principal Conductor Stephen Layton.

CloSer
Wednesday 29th February, 7.30pm,
Village Underground,
EC2A

Tickets: £15 (includes a free drink)
Box office: 020 7377 1362/spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

Images: Clare Parker