A concert in Norman Jacob’s Sounds Of War, Instruments Of Peace series commemorating the First World War and entitled A Letter From Private Joe is going to carry an emotional punch before one note is played.
Our feelings of nostalgia, regret and remorse were projected onto music of the time by Frank Bridge and George Butterworth, illustrated by the drama of Beethoven and Bartok and interpreted in contemporary fashion by composers Tom Reid and Roxanna Panufnik.
None of this could happen without the artistry of the Heath Quartet, whose four young players, renowned for their passionate performance and technical virtuosity, were making a welcome return to St Nicholas Church.
Tom Reid’s Sabotage Radio, specially commissioned, was a brisk exchange of lively rhythm and satisfying discord, before Beethoven’s masterly Op 95 with its wilful and enigmatic moods, fugitive themes and sudden modulations.
Private Joe’s letters to his sister from Ypres in August, 1917, were set to music by Roxanna Panufnik and sung with great sensitivity and musical grace by baritone Nigel Cliffe (Private Joe’s great nephew) together with the Heath Quartet who suddenly became five remarkable instruments.
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