'memorial ground' performed by East Neuk Festival (world premiere)

The title, ‘Memorial Ground’ has a double meaning. It refers to the battlefield itself, but a ‘ground’ in music is also a chord sequence that repeats over and over, on top of which you can add extra lines. David Lang’s ground will be a few minutes long and will repeat as needed, the way that hymns repeat. This will serve as a ‘bed’ for solos that will be sung or spoken over it. These solos are one place where every choir can bring their own choices to bear: David will provide melodies without words so each choir can choose and set words that reflect their own thoughts on the battle centenary. This could be a poem, a prayer, a roll call of the fallen from the local War Memorial; other texts such as letters, diaries or personal accounts.