For the Fallen
SIR – I read with interest Simon Crowley’s letter (October 10) about the word order in Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen”.
As a member of the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, I am rehearsing Elgar’s cantata, The Spirit of England, which sets to music three of Binyon’s poems, including “For the Fallen”. In the Novello vocal score, the poems are printed at the beginning, and the wording in “For the Fallen” is correct (“They shall grow not old”). However, in the score itself we find “They shall not grow old”, which is confusing.
Last time we performed the piece we sang Binyon’s words correctly, but this time we have been told to sing the words as printed in the score.
David Hope
Leeds, West Yorkshire
SIR – “They shall not grow old” or “They shall grow not old”?
Surely the important point is that they will be remembered.
Lt Col Glenn Waltham (retd) Chipstead, Kent