Introducing Jerusalem, with a twist. We’ve combined this enduringly popular piece with Liz Dilnot Johnson’s Blake Reimagined. Feat. Indian vocalist & sitar player Debipriya Sircar.

Originally written for the ‘Fight for Right’ movement to rally British spirits during WW1, ‘Jerusalem’ retained Blake’s deep sense of mourning for a world tainted by industrialisation . With this, the eminently singable and aspirational hymn quickly became synonymous with a much wider celebration of universal human values – and a call to action to build a better world. In 1918, Millicent Garret Fawcett, leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, wrote to Parry suggesting ‘Jerusalem’ ought to become the Women Voter’s official hymn. As friends of both Fawcett and the Pankhursts , the passionate suffragist Parry and his wife, Maude , were delighted: “I wish indeed it might become the Women Voters’ hymn as you suggest. People seem to enjoy singing it. And having the vote ought to diffuse a good deal of joy too. So they would combine happily.” In 1924 ‘Jerusalem’ was adopted as the national anthem for the Women’s Institute.

And so, there is no more fitting a place to start your experience, than in the West Sussex Downs: home to Blake’s cottage in nearby Felpham, and where he originally penned ‘Jerusalem’ . The words of the timeless passion-rousing hymn celebrate both all that we hold dear, and that which we yearn for: our roots, our common values, and the better world we want to build together. Nothing is more solid and representative of that, than these beautiful and ancient natural surroundings: “England’s green and pleasant land”.

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