To mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, pianist Megumi Fujita presented a concert of music by composers who were involved or connected with the War: Ralph Vaughan Williams was a stretcher-bearer with the Royal Army Medical Corps; Maurice Ravel enlisted as a truck driver; Enrique Granados drowned when his cross-channel ferry was torpedoed in 1916; and Claude Debussy died in the last year of the War, his funeral marked by bombardment in Paris.

 

The programme was complimented by the World Premiere of Variations on Papaver Rhoeas by Michael Stimpson. 'Papaver Rhoeas' is the Latin name for the Remembrance poppy, characterised by four petals which surround the central black core. Written in the shape of the flower, the piece is a symbol for all those affected by conflict, in World War One and beyond.

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