THE centenary of the end of the First World War was marked by a deeply moving gala concert given by Mark Padmore, international tenor soloist and director of the St Endellion Summer Festival, in St Endellion Church on Saturday evening, September 15.
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He was accompanied by Julius Drake, piano, and the songs were interspersed with poems by Wilfred Owen, Charles Causley, Thomas Hardy, Geoff Dyer, Vera Brittain, Frederic Manning, Harold Monro, D H Lawrence, Ivor Gurney, Robert Frost and Edward Thomas; the poems were read by Stephen Rashbrook.
Composers of the songs included Gerald Finzi, Schubert, Wolf, Ravel, Britten, James MacMillan, Poulenc, Schumann, Ivor Gurney, Kurt Weill and Noel Coward.
The event, which was attended by a large audience, was arranged through Endelienta, the charity which fosters arts and spirituality in North Cornwall.
Ian Sandbrook, chairman of Endelienta, which hosted the concert, welcomed the performers and audience, and prayer was offered by Prebendary Andrew Lewis.
Refreshments and drinks were served during the interval and afterwards, the audience was invited to a reception to meet the performers in the church hall, where there was an art exhibition, arranged by Peter Ursem, development manager for Endelienta.