The Diggers’ Requiem

Posted on 1 October, 2018

A full orchestra, a large choir, a lone piper and 62,000 bells – one for every Australian who died in World War I.

That’s what the audience at the Australian premiere of The Diggers’ Requiem can expect when they gather at Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall this Saturday.

Co-commissioned by the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Australian War Memorial to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War, The Diggers’ Requiem captures the tragedy and heartbreak of the war while carrying a message of hope.

The concert’s director, Christopher Latham, is the Australian War Memorial’s first musical artist-in-residence and has been working on The Flowers of War project to remember the lost voices of musicians and artists who died in the war.

First performed in Amiens in April, The Diggers’ Requiem tells the story of the Somme and beyond. Seven contemporary Australian composers – Nigel Westlake, Elena Kats-Chernin, Richard Mills, Graeme Koehne, Ross Edwards, Andrew Schultz and Chris Latham – have all written movements. All but one of these composers (Richard Mills) will be in Canberra for the Australian premiere.

Unidentified soldier. 1st Aus Div1918 tin helmet tunic and bandolier across chest ‘A’ badge (Anzac) on colour patch. Painting Septimus Power 1918 Collection. Image supplied.

The mournful March of the Death of Saul by Handel, traditionally performed at military funerals, will open the work.

One movement is by recently-discovered WWI composer Septimus Kelly, who died at Beaumont-Hamel in 1916. His Lament of the Somme, which evokes the Battle of Pozières was written just two weeks before his death.

Elena Kats-Chernin’s piece, Lacrimosa, tells the tragic story of the battles of Bullecourt from a mother’s perspective. Celebrated mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson sings this mother’s lament for a son with no known grave.

Meanwhile, the work of Alex Lithgow – who wrote the Victoria March played by the Australian army as it marched into Bapaume in 1917 – has been incorporated into Nigel Westlake’s Glass Soldier Suite. This tells the story of Bapaume’s liberation, the death of the Red Baron and the battles of Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux.

In the last movement, 62,000 recorded bells will be accompanied by a handbell choir using bells forged in London’s Whitechapel, the foundry that made Big Ben. A lone piper will play a lament by Pipe-Major John Grant.

Around two dozen young artists from around the country, including some from Canberra, will join the 60-piece Australian War Memorial Orchestra and 80-piece choir. They are currently engaging in a week of master classes with the composers.

In Amiens The Diggers’ Requiem received five standing ovations. Expect no less in Canberra for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The Diggers’ Requiem starts at 7.30pm this Saturday 6 October at Llewellyn Hall. Book online here. You can hear the composers talk in a free seminar on October 5 from 12-1.30 at the School of Music. Booking not required.

Feature image: John Barker, Sorrowing Mother. Image supplied.