How has the South Downs landscape influenced musicians?

Daniel Grimley University of Oxford

Sunset looking north from Devil's Dyke, South Downs, West Sussex — The Friends of Devil's Dyke help to preserve the South Downs

The landscape of Sussex and the South Downs has long been celebrated as an inspiration for literature and visual art. Its significance as a site of musical creativity, however, is no less remarkable.

Collectors and composers

The Sussex Weald, at the foot of the Downs, was a crucial area for nineteenth-century folk-song collectors such as the Reverend John and Lucy Broadwood.

The Copper Family from Rottingdean near Brighton assembled a unique collection of Sussex tunes, many of which were notated by collector Kate Lee, one of the founders of the Folk-Song Society. Members of the family still maintain the tradition of live performance today.

Edward Elgar rented a cottage from the landscape painter Rex Vicat Cole at Brinkwells, near Petworth House, during the First World War; here he composed his Cello Concerto and a series of eloquent chamber works.

Summer Music

Elgar’s younger contemporary Arnold Bax lived in rooms above the White Horse Hotel at Storrington after the Second World War. His tone poem Summer Music was intended as the ‘depiction of a hot windless June mid-day in some wooded place of Southern England’.

Popular influence

More recently, Chanctonbury Ring was the title of Richard Hill’s 1978 prog rock album, and Brighton, on the other side of the Downs, has produced a plethora of popular artists from The Levellers to The Kooks.

Frank Bridge

Perhaps the most striking musician to have been inspired by the Downs was the early twentieth-century composer Frank Bridge. Born in Brighton in 1879, Bridge spent much of his professional career in London.

In 1923, he moved to Friston, near West Dean and the Cuckmere Haven, where his friends included the artist Majorie Fass. Here, Bridge wrote his rhapsody Enter Spring — originally entitled ‘On Friston Down’.

Site specific

Though Bridge's music is influenced by the work of European modernist contemporaries such as Stravinsky, Ravel, and Alban Berg, rather than folksong, its soaring lines and striding rhythms are no less inspired by walking along the coast path above the Seven Sisters.

It is hard to imagine a more evocative musical response to the Sussex landscape and to the graceful horizons of the Downs themselves.

Misty view across the Sussex Downs at dawn, from Ditchling Beacon

South Downs

Wild coast, stunning wildlife, remarkable history - enjoy the top spots in Britain's newest National Park.

Explore the South Downs

Inspiring places in the South Downs National Park

Sunset lends stunning colours to the winding Cuckmere meanders

Cuckmere Valley

Flower-rich chalk grassland with stunning views of the Cuckmere River

Cissbury Ring

The most historic hill on the South Downs

Yellow and golden sunset views over the Seven Sisters cliffs

Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters

Walk, go rockpooling or simply relax in the sun with views of the Seven Sisters cliffs

Devil's Dyke, West Sussex

Explore this historic beauty spot on the South Downs Way, named after the huge dry valley (the largest in the country) that carves its way through ridges of rolling chalk grassland. Great for bike rides, walking and flying a kite, the area is rich in rare and colourful wildlife such as butterflies and orchids.

Ditchling Beacon

Panoramic views from the top of world

Lavington Common

A rare pocket of open heath amongst plantation woodland

Uppark House and Garden

Uppark, a tranquil and intimate 18th-century house

A misty morning at Saddlescombe Farm, seen from Newtimber Hill

Saddlescombe Farm and Newtimber Hill

A hidden hamlet nestled in the downs

Alfriston Clergy House

Medieval thatched Wealden hall-house and picturesque garden

Woolbeding Gardens

Nestled in a quiet corner of West Sussex, Woolbeding Gardens a true horticultural haven bursting with colourful planting, sensational views and a whole host of surprises. Woolbeding is still very much a private garden and we welcome visitors exclusively on Thursdays and Fridays only.

Petworth

A stately mansion nestled in the South Downs housing the finest art collection in the care of the National Trust.

Black Down

The highest point in the South Downs National Park

Views across Slindon folly at sunset on the South Downs

Slindon Estate

A great and ancient downland estate

Monk's House, East Sussex

Virginia Woolf is recognised as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century. She and her husband Leonard purchased Monk’s House in 1919, at the start of Virginia’s career as a published author. The cottage garden and surrounding Sussex landscape were a constant source of inspiration for Virginia. You can visit this intimate home, which is still full of their favourite things, and get the sense that the couple have just stepped out for a walk.