A moving story, beautifully told

"This is the coffin of an unknown soldier. But he is only unknown to you. We knew him. We knew them all. He was not unknown to us."

This moving line from 'FE Young VC' at Hitchin's Market Theatre brought me close to tears. It suddenly struck me that the only reason there are memorials to unknown soldiers is because there are no survivors to name the lost. In many battles of the Great War, the loss of life on both sides was simply dreadful. Spoken by a real man, fictionalised by writer Kirk Foster and actor Keith Swainston, this perspective brought home the reality of life a century ago.

Part of Kirk's play focused on life in Hitchin in the years prior to the start of the war in August 1914. The house I live in - coincidentally next door to a house Kirk himself used to inhabit - was built in that period and I couldn't help but relate the version of Young's youth with that of those of a similar age who had previously called my home their own.

When a play forces you to rethink your view of a historical event, it can be considered a success. Without doubt, Keith's performance as Frank, reminiscing on his life and sudden death in the weeks approaching the end of the war, was an inspired and confident one. He was utterly credible in speaking the imagined words of a real man.

Frank Young was undoubtedly a hero - who else is awarded the Victoria Cross? He was also a real man and that sense of reality and ordinariness emphasised the horror of a war where Young and his men fought to regain the trenches they had occupied three years earlier.

The name FE Young VC is the final one inscribed on Hitchin's war memorial and his story is one that should be told to everyone in the town. We will remember them, even the unknown.

Posted via my iPad

Comments

Maria Schneider: Live at The Barbican

Tonight’s performance in the main hall at London’s Barbican Centre confirmed Maria Schneider ’s position as one of the finest composers of our generation. Working with the sublime Oslo Jazz Ensemble (formerly Denada), Schneider presented a selection of tunes from her ‘Data Lords’ double album from 2020 and the result was simply extraordinary. Photo credit @Hilary Seabrook With a host of Grammy awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Data Lords , Schneider has proved her right to stand on the Barbican stage in front of one of the finest ensembles in the world. Her music allows every member to shine, individually and collectively. Sax players who double on clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and alto flute, trumpets and flugelhorns, an accordion and multiple percussion pieces wielded by the drummer collectively provide a range of timbres, textures and dynamics that thrilled this audience. The Data Lords compositions celebrate everything that is wonderful about nature, as well as all ...

The Darius Brubeck Quartet: Live at Jazz Cafe Posk

My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in 2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album - Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

Search This Blog