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War Letters

By Diana Blom, Larry Sitsky, Nicole Murphy, Elliott Gyger

Regular price $25.00 Sale

New music commemorating WWI

Works by Elliot Gyger, Nicole Murphy, Larry Sitsky and Diana Blom and performed by Halcyon: Alison Morgan soprano, Jenny Duck-Chong mezzo soprano, Clive Birch bass, James Wannan viola, Kaylie Dunstan percussion, Jo Allan piano and Geoffrey Gartner conductor (tracks 1-5).

One doesn't have to dig too deeply to find that many people have a family connection to WWI, with stories of relatives who returned safely ... or did not.  Four Australian composers, representing four generations, were commissioned to set letters from WWI for new music ensemble Halcyon.  The thoughts, reflections and feelings expressed in these personal letters are as fresh today as they were 100 years ago.  War Letters brings into focus the day to day experiences of the men and women taken up by war.  From these personal memories we can reflect on the enormous impact the war, as it continues in our present lives, and truly empathise with those individuals who are speaking to us from both the past and the present.
Wirr 074 

Concert Program of Schools Presentation - Tuesday 10 November 2015, Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, Pymble

Concert Program for Public Audience - Saturday 7th November 2015, Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, Pymble

Review of CD by Music Teachers' Association  NSW - The Studio - February 2017

Download samples

Un poilu australien - Elliott Gyger (2015) [1-5]
1   August - November 1914
2   April 1915 - January 1916
3   April - June 1916
4   July 1916
5   August 1916
'Dearest Mother ...' - Nicole Murphy (2015) [6-9]
6   Leaving Home
  Egypt
8   France
9   England
10 Letter from the Trenches - Larry Sitsky (2015)
Triptych (war letters)
- Diana Blom (2015) [11-13]
11  Gallipoli letter: Ellie (Frank Robinson)
12  Vietnam diary: Great bloody Xmas break (David Wilkins)
13  Afghan emails: Bread and kids (Andrew Hastie)