In the coming weeks there will be no escape from World War I commemorations. In the concert hall, onstage and in exhibition spaces we’ll be overwhelmed by sombre torrents of remembrance – which of course is as it should be. War has shaped even the lives of those of us without direct experience of it; and while history tells the facts, art can initiate a deeper, more reflective understanding. Maybe.
Many of the concerts scheduled tread the same ground: English pastoral music from the early 20th century alongside readings from the poets of the trenches. And although I love Vaughan Williams, Howells and Butterworth, I feel I’m reaching saturation point with all that.
