THIS week Paul Turner, founder of the Swindon Recital Series, will take to the Swindon stage twice to showcase two quite different approaches to music.

At the Arts Centre on Sunday, October 2, as part of the Poetry Swindon Festival, Paul will be presenting a multi-discipline experience exploring the essence of Keats through a ghost story set in Rome’s Piazza de Spagna.

This is where Keats died of tuberculosis, his final words being ‘Don’t breathe on me…it feels like ice…’.

An eerie atmosphere is woven around both Keats’ sung and spoken words, performed by Vivien Munday soprano and Will Kettle narrator.

On Wednesday, October 5 at the Wyvern Theatre Paul will be joined by Lorna Osbon, violinist with Bath’s famous Pump Room Trio, in a sparkling programme of 20th century music for Swindon Recital Series’ (SRS) first chamber music recital of the new Season.

The drama of Piazzolla’s Milonga del Angel and the sultry blues of Ravel’s Sonata for violin and piano set the scene for the jazz-influenced season.

Also in the programme are Delius’ Sonata No. 3, completed by being dictated to a young musician after Delius himself had lost both his sight and the use of his limbs, and a beautiful piece by Polish composter Lutoslavski.

  • The Spirit of Keats will be presented at the Arts Centre on Sunday, October 2 at 8pm.  Tickets are £11, concessions £9.
  • Lorna Osbon will perform at the Wyvern Theatre, Swindon on Wednesday, October 5 1.05 – 2pm.  Tickets are £6, accompanied children 14 and under free (no booking fee). 
  • Information about the recital series can be found at www.swindonrecitalseries.org