Song of the White Horse (David Bedford, 1978)

David Bedford's 1978 score The Song of the White Horse was commissioned for a BBC television documentary. The work charts a journey along an ancient Berkshire footpath between a stone-age burial mound and the famous White Horse of Uffington, celebrating King Alfred's victory over the Danes at the Battle of Englefield in the 9th century (using words by G.K. Chesterton). Set for small ensemble and a children's choir, it famously climaxes with the choir reaching stratospherically high notes by inhaling Helium