Bringing the First World War to life through its music
Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra launches its new season at St David’s Hall tonight. Neil Collins chats to conductor Michael Bell
Q: The repertoire for Composers of the First World War makes for a very moving concert. How did you come to choose which pieces should be performed?
A: I wanted to make the programme as varied as possible, so there’s a wonderful symphony, film music, popular songs of the day and the last work of one of our composers, who was killed during the course of the war.
Q: How important are concerts like these in commemorating the sacrifice that those before us gave to allow us to live happily and peacefully?
A: The First World War was fought by volunteers, conscripts with the military from all different backgrounds.
Among their ranks were a number of classical composers, who wanted to fight for their country.
Q: The concert opens with one of the very few works by George Butterworth. Would you agree that it’s a very wistful and poignant piece especially as he was killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916?
A: Ahh George Butterworth…sadly there are so few works of his to perform.
And those that do exist conjure a vision of a land, and way of life, that were to vanish forever at the outbreak of war.
We’re performing Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow – his final piece composed before going off to war.
Tragically, Butterworth was shot and killed in the Battle of the Somme.
The Banks of Green Willow is such a beautiful and poignant piece, and is a lasting memorial to a composer who promised so much.
Q: Ralph Vaughan Williams volunteered for the Army and served throughout the war. Do share the opinion his Fifth Symphony is the most beautiful and moving symphony by a British composer?
A: Vaughan Williams was 41 at the outbreak of the First World War and needn’t have served at all, but he was determined to join up and served throughout the war.
He wrote his Fifth Symphony much later, at the height of the next World War, but anyone expecting a piece along the lines of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony, with its epic grandeur, will be surprised by a symphony marked by serenity and overwhelming beauty.
Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No 5 provided repose and calm while all the madness was going on in the world.
Q: A stirring centre-piece to the concert is provided by Cardiff-born Ivor Novello’s much-loved songs Keep the Home Fires Burning and We’ll Gather Lilacs. Was it important for you to get a Welsh element into the concert?
A: It’s so important to have the music of Ivor Novello in this concert – a composer born in Cardiff, who became world famous as a writer of glamorous stage shows in the first half of the 20th century.
He was also a film star, who featured in two early films directed by Alfred Hitchcock no less!
Novello’s song Keep the Home Fires Burning was extremely popular during World War I as was another muchloved Novello song in World War II, We’ll Gather Lilacs.
We’re delighted to welcome soprano Ros Evans to sing these wonderful songs.
Q: Tunes from the Trenches is a selection of popular and patriotic songs sung by the British and American troops. What pieces will you be performing?
A: Tunes from the Trenches is a 15-minute medley of song tunes that were favourites of the troops.
The selection begins with the recruiting song Your King and Country Want You followed by Goodbye, Dolly Gray as the soldiers leave for war.
Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser is followed by some French songs with lyrics improvised by the soldiers, such as Three German Officers Crossed the Rhine and They Were Only Playing Leap-Frog.
Stille Nacht (Silent Night) recalls the legendary Christmas truce. When This Lousy War is Over and There’s No Place Like Home are balanced by Land of Hope and Glory before the Americans arrive with The Caissons Go Rolling Along and Over There.
It’s a Long Way to Tipperary takes us towards a rousing finish, but then we hear The Last Post to end the piece reflectively.
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Composers of the First World War: A Commemoration is at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, tonight at 7.30pm. Call the box office on 029 2087 8444.