Brum orchestra’s musical tribute to Somme heroes
THE horrors of one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War are to be relived, set to a score performed by a top Midland Orchestra.
The film, The Battle Of The Somme, will be shown in Walsall, with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra providing the musical score.
The film is a full-length documentary made in 1916 which has been digitally refreshed and with a new specially composed score by Laura Rossi.
It has won acclaim after shown around the world.
But now, nearing the end being of a nationwide tour under the banner title SOMME 100, possibly for the last time it will be shown in the Midlands.
Accompanying the film will be the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra under its long-standing music director Michael Lloyd.
He conducted the work in a show in Malvern last year to an apprecia- tive audience. He said: “SOMME 100 is a great project for this wonderful orchestra to participate in.
“Laura Rossi’s score creates a superb atmosphere for a fascinating and ultimately very moving film.”
The show will be staged at Walsall Town Hall where two large paintings by Frank Salisbury are exhibited commemorating the never-to-beforgotten valour of the South Staffordshire Regiments in the Great War 1914-1918.
The concert will take place on Saturday, July 15, at 7.30pm. Tickets are all £10 and are available on the door on the day of the performance, or in advance from www.priorbooking. com or from the Orchestra’s website www.bpo.org.uk.
The Battle of the Somme pitched the British and French against the German army between July and November 1916. More than 3 million men fought and one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.
On the first day alone there were 60,000 British casualties.
Laura Rossi’s score creates a superb atmosphere for a fascinating and ultimately very moving film Michael Lloyd