'A lot to look forward to': World War I recital to be held on Armistice Day

Two award-winning musicians who have performed in concerts around the world will be coming together to remember those who lived during wartime in the UK - right from the very heart of Preston.

Pianist Simon Lepper and tenor Daniel Norman will be unveiling a special performance at St. George’s Church on Wednesday (November 11) in commemoration of Armistice Day, which they hope will give audiences an opportunity to reflect on what the occasion means for them.

‘From your ever-loving son, Jack’ will feature a range of English and French music from the World War I era, and has been a staple of Preston’s remembrance celebrations for many years.

Usually headed by local tenor Joshua Ellicott, and featuring real letters from his great uncle who died in the conflict, this year’s concert promises to be a reimagined performance as it this time welcomes Daniel Norman to the stage.

“I’m really happy to be doing it, and it’s a lovely opportunity to put together a programme,” Daniel told the Lancashire Post. “I think the audience has a lot to look forward to.”

“It’s a recital of songs reflecting on the war and the nature of the people affected by it in various ways. The first group is a little set of songs being very positive and optimistic, before they go out to war.

“Then there’s these two Britten songs, and the composer and poet were both committed pacifists. It’s quite often that these song programmes about these things will often include things like the war poets and the people who were fighting, but I think it’s actually important to bear in mind the people who were against it at the time - they were completely sidelined by society, but they were visionary in some ways to see the inhumanity of what was going on.

“The third group of songs is about the women. What was going on for the women in the war?

“One song is by a woman called Eliza Webber, who was in a concentration camp in Terizín. She wrote a lullaby for the children in the infirmary, and then she got the call that her husband and son were slated to go to Auschwitz.

“She insisted on going with them, and the story goes from some survivors that her music survived because her husband had buried her sheet music in the gardens of Terezín.

“Then the last group of songs is all from ‘beyond the grave’, as it were. The text of the songs are all people who died, talking to people they left behind.”

First getting his start in music as a chorister at eight years old, Daniel has performed in operas from Britain to Boston and beyond.

After going to Oxford to read Engineering, he later went on to study in the US and Canada, as well as the Royal College of Music in London, where pianist Simon currently works as the assistant head of keyboard.

“It looks to be really, really exciting,” Simon told the Lancashire Post. “It’s sort of a reflection on the humanity of war, and I think the communal listening is really nice.

“Listening to music brings people from different backgrounds and age groups together in the spirit of something positive.

“Poetry is often just the suggestion of an idea, which allows people to bring different perspectives to it and their own personal experience of loss. I think there’s something that connects us all in the sense of being alive and the people who have come before us. That’s what this is about.”

‘From your ever loving son, Jack’ will be hosted at 2pm on Wednesday November 11 at St. George’s Church, Preston.

Entry will be £18, to be paid in cash upon entry.