The Meadow Recitals
The Meadow Recitals began as a dare: one concert in a hay meadow above the River Windrush, played to whoever came, with the cello case open on the grass for the fee. Forty people came. The third season now runs across a July weekend — no stage, no amplification, blankets instead of seats, and the interval timed to the light.
The programming rule is one suite, one sonata movement, and songs — always the songs — with the running order decided that morning, by the weather.
How it works
Tickets are pay-what-you-can, children are free, and rain moves the concert to the barn at Longcroft Farm, which has its own acoustics and its own opinions. The swifts are not scheduled but have never yet missed a Bach suite.
Playing at the meadow
Each season invites two guest artists, chosen for wanting to do this at all. If playing a sonata to a field at dusk sounds like your kind of concert, write — the programme is built around the people who say yes.
“The best concert hall in England currently has no roof.”
The Bow