Cecilian Choir to mark Somme anniversary

The University Cecilian Choir, conducted by Deputy Director of Music, Daniel Harding, will commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme with a special performance of a new choral piece written by American composer David Lang in Studio 3 Gallery on Thursday 10 November at 13.10.

Memorial Ground is an evocative, haunting meditation on the Battle of the Somme, but also reaches beyond it to commemorate all those who have lost their lives in conflict ever since. The piece was commissioned as part of the nationwide 14-18NOW project.

As part of a national series of performances, Memorial Ground is the Pulitzer-prize-winning composer’s response to the anniversary, written in such a way as to allow choirs around the country to realise the piece in whatever way is appropriate to their occasion. For this performance by the Cecilian Choir, the piece will be combined with words by the First World War poet, Siegfried Sassoon, as well as with a new poem written by Nancy Gaffield, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing in the School of English. The performance will be illuminated by a series of projections from the Special Collections department in the Templeman Library, curated by Joanna Baines. The event, prefaced by a performance of the ‘Last Post,’ takes place in the resonant acoustic of Studio 3 Gallery beginning at 1.10pm, and will last approximately twenty minutes; admission is free.

This performance is a joint collaboration between the Music Department, Studio 3 Gallery, Special Collections at the Templeman Library, and the School of English.

Memorial Ground is co-commissioned by East Neuk Festival and 14-18 NOW: WWI Centenary Art Commissions, supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England and by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, with the support of Creative Scotland.

Find out more about the performance on the Music department website:  and more about Memorial Ground .