“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years
condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will
(Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in
The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914.)
These words are so familiar to many of us and
spoken a lot at this time of year. They are, of course, particularly familiar
to members of the Honour Choir and form part of Honour 4, a poignantly appropriate
addition to this concert and beautifully performed by Honour.
There were several solemn moments: singing the
national anthem, the two minute silence and the British Legion parade by two
veterans. The concert ended with another show of national pride that resembled the
Last Night at the Proms. The band led us in renderings of Jerusalem, Land of Hope and
Glory and Rule Britannia, not to
forget clapping to the Hornpipe.
There were lighter moments too: the band brought
us a medley of Disney tunes, Honour sang Viva la
Musica and, going for Disney again, we offered Kiss the Girl.
There were a few surprises. We’d not been
expecting Kiss the Girl or I Will but it doesn’t matter: it worked.
Anyway, we were pleased to join Honour for Hail
Smiling Morn, Blue Skies, Wonderful World, Bring Him Home and Viva la Musica. They joined us for Kiss the Girl.
It was all about harmony. We’d been reminded
at the beginning of the evening that we are here today to be able to join together
this way because of the sacrifices made by others earlier. So we wore our poppies
with pride – on the left for the men and on the right for the ladies. And with the leaves pointing to eleven o’clock.
Something else we learned.
A pleasing concert in a very nice venue.
No comments:
Post a Comment