THE path to paradise begins in Hell in Saturday's York Late Music lunchtime concert by Il Cor Tristo, at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, at 1pm.

Alto James Cave, tenors Christopher O’Gorman and Jonathan Hanley and bass Charlie Murray, a vocal group steeped in the tradition of ensemble singing, present Roger Marsh’s setting of words from Dante’s Inferno, from which the group takes its name, along with the first performance of new works by Cave and David Lancaster.

In the day's second concert at the same location, John Potter and Jacob Heringman perform an array of lute songs at 7.30pm.

Transcriptions of songs by Warlock, Wilkinson, Moeran, Holst, Butterworth, Grainger, Vaughan Williams, Telfer and Pope will be complemented by pieces given to the performers by Sting and Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks.

Also on the menu is the world premiere of a Late Music commission, Michael Parkin's 5 Haiku From The Narrow Rad To The Deep North, along with a performance of the winning work from the Alwinton Concert Series Composers competition.

The piece by the late York composer George Butterworth, who died in the First World War, will be The True Lover's Farewell. A plaque is mounted in commemoration of Butterworth at his former family home in Driffield Terrace, now part of The Mount School.

Tickets for the lunchtime concert cost £5; the evening, £12, concessions £10, students £5, at latemusic.org or on the door. Michael Parkin will be giving a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm, with a complimentary glass of wine or juice for concert-goers.

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