On the 8th May The London Chorus is joining people up and down the country to mark the historic 80th anniversary of VE Day and celebrate 80 years of peace since the end of the Second World War in Europe with a performance of Arthur Bliss’ Morning Heroes. The work is a choral symphony in five sections and scored for narrator, chorus and large orchestra. The poems Bliss chose are wide ranging – Homer, Whitman, Owen, Li Tai Po and Roger Nichols. Morning Heroes was composed for the Norwich Festival in 1930. The score is powerful and dramatic. Performances are rare and here is a chance to experience a masterpiece.
The London Chorus and New London Orchestra, under the baton of Adrian Brown, are thrilled to have as our orator Petroc Trelawny. A giant in the world of radio and television broadcasting, Petroc is one of the best-known voices across the BBC’s classical music programming having presented the BBC Proms on radio and television for 25 years.
The program will also include works by Vaughan Williams, Martinů, Walton, and Holst.
Vaughan Williams – Six Choral Songs to be Sung in Time of War
Martinů – Memorial to Lidice
Walton – Spitfire Prelude and Fugue
Bliss – Morning Heroes
Holst – I vow to thee, my country
Adrian Brown – conductor
Petroc Trelawny – orator
The London Chorus
New London Orchestra
Petroc Trelawny – orator