BUDE Music Society’s Armistice Centenary Concert on Sunday, November 11 comprised piano pieces and readings by English composers and poets affected by World War One. It was a moving tribute to those who gave their lives for their country and yet managed to compose and write such sensitive works during the full horrors of the war, writes David Robinson.

George Butterworth’s idyll ‘The Banks of Green Wlllow’ was based on folk melodies he had collected in Sussex; Butterworth was killed in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, aged 31. The work is predominantly English in style, as are the Three Improvisations for Left Hand by Frank Bridge. These evocative pieces were written for Douglas Fox, a brilliant pianist, organist and composer, who had lost his right hand in the war. Bridge hoped that Douglas would be encouraged and challenged to resume his music career, which he did, as director of music at Clifton College, inspiring his pupils there over a long period.

The selection of works by Frederick Septimus Kelly were also English in style, often challenging technically. Kelly was an Australian/English composer who was killed in 1916 while leading an attack on a gun emplacement. Ernest Farrar’s Three Pieces included lovely melodies in thirds, delicate left hand figures and interesting harmonies; Farrar was also a promising organist and composer who was killed after only two days on the front in 1918. The textures in his pieces were enthralling.

The Shulbrede Tunes by Hubert Parry were the most varied and inspiring pieces in the programme. During the war, Parry watched in horror as the new generation of composing talent was wiped away at the Royal College of Music where he was principal. This suite of pieces were an evocative collection of musical portraits of friends, families and children, recalling the Enigma Variations by Elgar. The styles were varied and exciting with ‘Bogies’ and ‘Children’s Pranks’ the most challenging and colourful overall. These are pieces that it would be nice to hear again and which the pianist, Alex Wilson, is to record in 2019.

The piano works were interspersed by sensitive readings by Kate Compston, ranging from ‘Strange Service’ by Ivor Gurney, (both a poet and composer, reflecting the nostalgia for home), ‘Strange Meeting’ by Wilfred Owen, who rejoined his men at the front only to be killed just before the Armistice, and Charles Causley’s, ‘Dick Lander’, which reflects on the after-effects of war. All the readings were challenging of course, but also humorous and memorable.

The audience was enthralled on this auspicious day, the 100th anniversary of the ending of the Great War. The mood was sometimes sombre but the music and poems enabled us to wonder and marvel that out of such horror musicians and poets could find works that showed hope and love of beauty.