Study Day on Words, Music and Place

Dates
Friday, June 26, 2026 - 10:45 to 18:00
Location
Bournemouth University (BH12 5BB)

A Study Day organised by the Literature and Music Research Group, in partnership with University Music Bournemouth and The Thomas Hardy Society, on Friday 26th June at Bournemouth University (BH12 5BB). Through papers, a panel discussion and a lecture recital, we will explore how place — physically and symbolically — has influenced writers and composers.

Registration

The symposium is free to attend and members of the public with an interest in the events taking place are very welcome. Registration is now open through Eventbrite.

Pay and display parking is available at Bournemouth University. Please download the delegate information sheet* for advice on travel and accommodation. 
* Should you have any difficulty in accessing this document, please contact the organiser.

Schedule

10:45
Arrival (Fusion Building, Bournemouth University)
11:15
Welcome
11:30

(Open University – Chaired by Professor Delia da Sousa Correa) 

  •  Professor Robert Fraser "Words, Music and Nation: Bartók, Vaughan Williams and the Nostalgic Descant of War"
  • Dr Robert Samuels “The Rhine and the Heath: mythical landscapes in nineteenth-century words and music”
13:00
Lunch break
14:15

(Thomas Hardy Society – Chaired by Mark Chutter)

A panel discussion exploring the theme of words, music and place in relation to some of the Dorset houses that inspired Hardy’s writings and the broader area of Literary Tourism. The session will include readings and musical examples. 

Panel members:

  • Mark Chutter (Chairman & Academic Director Thomas Hardy Society)
  • Sarah Gregson & Kenneth Young (Poxwell Manor)
  • Alban O’Brien (Thomas Hardy Society)
  • Harriet Still (Independent researcher, curator and Building Historian, Oxford)
  • Professor Hywel Dix (Bournemouth University)
15:45
Tea break
16:30

(University Music Bournemouth – Speaker Dr Natalie Burton)

A lecture recital exploring the theme of words, music and place in relation to song settings of poets with connections to Dorset (William Wordsworth, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rupert Brooke, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Percy Bysshe Shelly). The programme includes songs by John Ireland, Gerald Finzi, Frederick Kelly, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Harry Burleigh, Liza Lehman and Roger Quilter.

Tenor: Paul Heaslip, Baritone: Jonathan Prentice, Piano: Rob Taylor

18:00
Drinks reception

Contact us

Literature and Music Research Group
The Open University
School of Arts & Humanities
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Email:
Delia da Sousa Correa
Robert Samuels