Symphony 400: The Voyage — an unexpected twist in a musical journey which began in the classroom, and led all the way to the Mayflower stage

In September 2019, composer James Redwood visited four Southampton Primary Schools: collecting musical ideas from 100 school children, inspired by the Mayflower 400 story.

Now, those ideas have become a brand new piece of music: “Symphony 400: The Voyage” — debuted by 60 talented secondary and sixth form musicians at the Mayflower Theatre on Friday 6 March 2020

Watch the video of the story of “Symphony 400: The Voyage”.

Where Now? An Unexpected Twist

When the Symphony 400 journey began back in September, no one could have predicted the circumstances that would be to follow in March 2020. With social distancing and isolation set to be a part of life for the weeks, and possibly months, to come, there is a twist in the next stage of our journey.

One Start — Many Different Journeys

Southampton Music Hub is making all the music available — to anyone — for free — including…

  • PDF scores

  • Sibelius Files

  • MIDI Files and more

You can use these to…

  • Remix

  • Reimagine

  • Rearrange

  • Transform

  • Play

  • Perform and more

This can be done…

  • At home

  • At school

  • On video chat with friends or relatives

  • Using apps on your smartphone or tablet

  • Using apps on your PC or Mac

  • With an instrument

  • With your voice

  • Any way you can imagine — the possibilities are endless

Why not try…

  • Printing out the score, and chopping it up — move the pieces around and then stick them down again

  • Adding the MIDI parts to GarageBand or Logic and changing the instruments — explore the world of digital sound

  • Create loops — either by playing or recording — layer them up and remix the parts

If you have recordings, photos or scores you’d like to share, send us links on Twitter or via the contact page, and we’ll try to share some with everybody.

Where next? It’s up to you!

Where our journey goes next is in your hands. Symphony 400: The Voyage launched its journey in the classroom, and led us all the way to the Mayflower stage. Now, let many more journeys begin.

Ensembles, Family Music, Music in Schools, Music in the CommunityMatt BrombleySymphony 400, Mayflower 400