Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: For the Fallen

In 1915, author Laurence Binyon gave Elgar a book of his poems which included his For the Fallen. Elgar set it to music the following year. Binyon’s poignant words and Elgar’s stirring, noble music combined to create a deeply moving tribute to those who died while fighting “The War to End All Wars”. Both George Butterworth and Cecil Coles were amongst those who died in the trenches. Coles was actually composing at the front line and surviving manuscripts still have shrapnel embedded in them! Elgar’s Cello Concerto was premièred in 1919 and despite a poor performance, the quality of the work shone through: an astute critic noted “a profound wisdom and beauty underlying its simplicity ... a fine spirit's lifelong wistful brooding upon the loveliness of earth." Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia adds further elegiac beauty to a concert of commemoration.