WW1 concert honours New Ross district’s war dead
IN what was a moving weekend of events in New Ross to remember the end of ‘ The Great War’ – and especially to remember the men from the area who died – the climax was a performance of The Armed Man given by New Ross Singers.
The Parish Church was full of an appreciative audience for this very powerful work by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. A work full of variety, including a rendering of the Call to Prayer [the Adhan] by Imam Rashid Munir from Waterford, the concert made for a moving and memorable night at the church.
The soloists were choir member Betty Dalton and Hayley Crosbie from Creacon, who is in her first year in Maynooth where she is studying music. The orchestra were from the Musici group founded by Beth McNinch and included players from the foremost Irish orchestras - the RTE Symphony and the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Noel Eccles and Jimmy Hynes gave a wonderful performance on percussion.
Before the performance started Margaret Rossiter explained that the names of all known men from the town who died in the war would be shown on a large screen, one by one, and while these solemn minutes passed the orchestra played Elgar’s Nimrod.
Musical director Connie Tantrum said: ‘When you see the name of the street and the age of the soldier when he died, it makes the sacrifice of that generation more of a reality than ever.’
The Armed Man is a composite work, comprising a gathering together of texts from many different traditions.’
Dealing with the build-up to war and the horrors it brings, it is interspersed with parts of the Mass, ending with the rejoicing that comes with peace.
‘It is usually accompanied, as this performance was, by a film which graphically and shockingly shows scenes from wars throughout the ages. It is a work that is now sung all over the world. New Ross Singers gave an earlier performance in 2010. It is a wonderful work for singers and everyone enjoys being part of it. So it was decided to repeat it for this special commemoration of the Armistice that ended the war in the West, and honour the men from the town that died in that war.’