War, Words and English Song
The Thomas Hardy Society in conjunction with the War Poets’ Association present a concert for Remembrance.
The performance brings together the words of First World War poets and Thomas Hardy with English song composers of the early twentieth century, echoing the lived experiences of composers and poets affected by the Great War.
Composers and poets who were killed in action, such as George Butterworth, Wilfred Owen, Edward Thomas and Arthur Graeme West; composers and poets who wrote as they fought in the trenches, such as Ivor Gurney and Siegfried Sassoon; Poets and composers that worried for and grieved lost loved ones from home, such as Katharine Tynan and Gerald Finzi; poets and composers who advocated for peace, explicitly like Thomas Hardy or implicitly like John Ireland, are all given voice through words and song.
Dr Natalie Burton (speaker), Colin Howard (tenor) & Peter Oakes (piano) perform a sequence of words and music exploring themes of war and remembrance in their many and varied aspects — courage, despair, patriotism, loss and sacrifice. The stories, experiences and reflections of individuals are woven within a broader historical tapestry as the poetry and songs move us from the onset of war through the terror of battle to peace and remembrance.
The striking church of St Mary The Virgin, Dorchester, whose building was completed just before the outbreak of World War I, provides a fitting venue for this intimate, reflective occasion.
The concert is included in the THS War Poetry Conference weekend ticket, but can be booked separately.