image of person or book cover 2501617700588150630.jpg
This image has been sourced from online.
The Diggers’ Requiem single work   musical theatre   - 2 hrs
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 The Diggers’ Requiem
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The Diggers’ Requiem is a moving and beautiful Australian tribute to the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. The newly formed Australian War Memorial Orchestra and Choir along with members of the Band of the Royal Military College Duntroon, will be directed by Christopher Latham.

'The Requiem represents - in 12 movements - the battles of Fromelles, Pozières, Bapaume, Bullecourt, Villers-Bretonneux, Hamel, Amiens, Péronne and Mont Saint-Quentin, Bellenglise, Montbrehain, Ypres and Passchendaele in Belgium. It refers to death of the Red Baron and the charge of Beersheba in Palestine, which was the last great charge of cavalry. 62,000 bells representing each Australian who died are incorporated into the last movement, Lux Aeterna.

'The different movements were written by some of the greatest Australian contemporary composers, as well as the recently discovered Frederick Septimus Kelly, who died at Beaumon-Hamel in 1916. His Lament of the Somme, which evokes the Battle of Pozières, near Albert, was written just two weeks before his death. Elena Kats-Chernin, who finished writing her piece last year, will evoke the battle of Bullecourt in the Pas-de-Calais. Alex Lithgow who wrote the stirring Victoria March, which was played by the Australian Army as it marched into Bapaume in 1917, has his work incorporated into Nigel Westlake’s the Glass Soldier, a piece for trumpet and orchestra. A lone piper plays a lament by Pipe-Major John Grant in the last movement.

'This extraordinary symphonic work was devised and curated by Christopher Latham, Artistic Director of the Flowers of War project, and the first musical artist-in-residence at the Australian War Memorial.' (Production summary)

Production Details

  • Australian premiere performed at Llewellyn Hall - ANU School of Music, William Herbert Place Canberra, ACT : 6 October 2018.

    PROGRAM

    • Overture: Elena Kats-Chernin

    • Requiem Aeternum: Handel (Fromelles)

    • Kyrie: FS Kelly (Pozieres)

    • Tuba mirum: Nigel Westlake, Alex Lithgow (Bapaume)

    • Lacrimosa: Elena Cats-Chernin (Bullecourt)

    • Virtus et Contantia: Richard Mills (The charge of Beersheba)

    • Dies Irae: Nigel Westlake (Third Ypres)

    • Sanctus: Nigel Westlake (The fall of flying Aces)

    • Benedictus Nigel Westlake (Amiens)

    • Libera Me: Nigel Westlake (Villers Bretonneux)

    • Offertorium: Andrew Schulz (Hamel and Monash)

    • Pie Jesu: Graeme Koehne (Mt. St Quentin/Peronne)

    • Lux Aeterna: Ross Edwards (Bellenglise, Monbrehan)

    • Prayer for Peace: Christopher Latham

    PERFORMERS

    The Australian War Memorial Orchestra & Choir and members of the Band of the Royal Military College Duntroon with Paul Goodchild - trumpet; Simone Riksman - soprano (Holland); Christina Wilson - mezzo-soprano; Andrew Goodwin - tenor; David Hidden - baritone; David Novak - accordion (Slovenia); Jordan Aikin - bagpipes (UK); Timothy Young - piano; Tobias Cole - Choirmaster. Directed by Christopher Latham

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

The Diggers’ Requiem : Playing Our Finest Songs to Those Lost on the Western Front Christopher Latham , 2018 single work
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 October 2018;

'On October 6th, The Diggers’ Requiem, the combined creative output of seven Australian composers, will have its Australian premiere. The twin to the Gallipoli Symphony (which premiered in Turkey and Queensland in 2015), the requiem tells the story of the major Australian battles on the Western Front.' (Introduction)

The Diggers’ Requiem : Playing Our Finest Songs to Those Lost on the Western Front Christopher Latham , 2018 single work
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 October 2018;

'On October 6th, The Diggers’ Requiem, the combined creative output of seven Australian composers, will have its Australian premiere. The twin to the Gallipoli Symphony (which premiered in Turkey and Queensland in 2015), the requiem tells the story of the major Australian battles on the Western Front.' (Introduction)

Last amended 4 Oct 2018 07:12:57
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X