100 Film music concerts – The Battle of the Somme
Now that war films are so popular with the premiere of “Dunkirk”, it could be a good time to recall a battle that also has its historical significance: The Battle of the Somme.
The Battle of the Somme of 1916 was one of the longest and bloodiest of the First World War, with more than one million casualties on both sides, where British and French forces attempted to break the German lines along forty kilometers to the north and south of the Somme River in the north of France.
As a reminder of this battle, director William F. Jury filmed a silent documentary narrating the British army’s involvement, which includes a mix of real and recreated scenes. The documentary was released at the end of 1916 and almost half of the British population of the time saw it.
In 2006, the Imperial War Museum commissioned British composer Laura Rossi to score the film Battle of the Somme for the 90th anniversary of the event.
Last year, on July 2016, a special tour started in the United Kingdom. The goal of the tour was to offer 100 screenings of the original 1916 film to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, where both professional and amateur orchestras would be performing Laura Rossi’s score live to film.
Today, 22nd of July 2017 is the last of the 100 performances that have been carried out this whole year, and the Gloucester Guildhall Theatre (Gloucester, UK) will be the place where the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra conducted by Glyn Oxley will perform at 3:00 p.m. the music live to picture, in a performance that closes the centenary celebrations.
As special guests, Royal British Legion Group Captain Annie Reid, who is a national trustee of the legion, will be at the concert; war veteran 90-year-old Trevor Pleass will take part playing the violin in the orchestra, and composer Laura Rossi will be giving a short talk before the concert.
Tickets for today’s final concert, priced 11 GBP, can be found at:
http://www.seetickets.com/event/somme-centenary-concert-by-laura-rossi/gloucester-guildhall/1114702
More information about this curious initiative:
