Before Action (2006)
A setting of a 1916 poem of the same name by William Noel Hodgson.
SATB
Duration
5 minutes
5 minutes
Commissioning details
Commissioned by The BBC Singers
Commissioned by The BBC Singers
Additional information
Before Action was written while William Noel Hodgson's unit moved up to the front in the final days before the commencement of The Battle of The Somme in July 1916. The final lines of this poem 'Help me to die O Lord' are particularly poignant as Noel Hodgson was killed on the first morning of the battle. William Noel Hodgson was educated at Durham School where the composer Will Todd was also educated some 70 years later.
Before Action was written while William Noel Hodgson's unit moved up to the front in the final days before the commencement of The Battle of The Somme in July 1916. The final lines of this poem 'Help me to die O Lord' are particularly poignant as Noel Hodgson was killed on the first morning of the battle. William Noel Hodgson was educated at Durham School where the composer Will Todd was also educated some 70 years later.
Performances
3 November 2006 - St Pauls Knightsbridge, London SW1
BBC Singers
conductor - Andrew Carwood
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3
3 November 2006 - St Pauls Knightsbridge, London SW1
BBC Singers
conductor - Andrew Carwood
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3