“And
for an instant there existed peace on earth...”
Coope Boyes and Simpson’s third collaboration with Peace Concerts Passendale
highlighted a brief space of peace and humanity amid the carnage of the First
War.
Working with the stunning sixty-peace Flemish world choir, Wak Maar Proper, the trio were commissioned to write songs for The Christmas Truce 1914, which was first performed in Ieper Cathedral in 1998.
The
songs in the performance grow out of the moment of hope that was the
Christmas Truce in 1914. Reflecting the carols of peace on earth that were sung
across No Man’s Land, taking forward the spirit of reconciliation that
inspired the
Truce into later meetings where enemies came to recognised their shared humanity
and - as always with Peace Concerts Passendale - bringing in newly created songs
inspired by that time in Flanders and what it has since come to mean.
The
album of The Christmas Truce / Kerstbestand was recorded live in Flanders
in Belgium and Derbyshire in England. It includes traditional English,
Flemish, German and French carols as well as the new songs by Coope Boyes and
Simpson specially written for the production.
“Without
any shadow of doubt the a cappella album of the Millennium. No ‘buts’
no ‘maybes’ it just is. A collection of great humour, sublime pathos,
cutting social comment and touching on all human emotions, yet sung with
incredible sensitivity.... a crowning glory of a CD.” Folk North-West
The Christmas Truce at Farnham Maltings, 2nd November 2001
Surrey Advertiser, 10 November 2001
Simply Stunning Singing
It is often said that there is no more powerful instrument than the human voice, a sentiment with which few, if any who were present at Farnham Maltings on Friday last week would disagree.
The venue’s Great Hall was the setting for the UK premier of Christmas Truce 1914, featuring the superb English a cappella trio of Coope, Boyes and Simpson and the wonderful voices of the Flemish world music choir, Wak Maar Proper.
Originally commissioned by Peace Concerts Passendale in Belgium and first performed in 1998 at Ypres Cathedral, the critically acclaimed collaboration was inspired by the unofficial truce between the Allied and German forces on Christmas day 1914.
It begins with the songs and carols documented as having been sung by the English, French and German troops during that brief armistice, before leaving the trenches to encompass songs of peace and humanity from around the world, including both Muslim and Jewish hymns, before climaxing with the brilliant Ron Kavana anthem, Reconciliation.
Interspersed with readings from letters, postcards and poems from the trenches, together with commentary on more contemporary conflicts – Ulster, Kosovo and, of course, Afghanistan – by narrator Piet Chielens, the show is incredibly moving, conjuring up the horrors and sheer senselessness of life in the trenches during the Great War. It is a powerful plea for peace, but there is humour too, particularly in the exchanges between the troops.
The singing on Friday was simply stunning and made for a very special event indeed.