The Old Lie - a new choral composition about war - Part One

A new composition by Jon Arterton (founder of the a cappella group The Flirtations) for chorus, narrator and instruments. It's based on the words of First World War poet Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est." It contains photo images from the war. The piece is 12-minutes long. Part Two is a short epilogue. More information can be found at www.TheOldLie.com.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• choral
• chorus
• war
• ant-war
• wilfred
• owen
• arterton
• flirtations
• choir
• sing
• peace
• provincetown
• dulce
• protest

[SDC05061956]

The words in the first 2 minutes are not Owen's. They are from 'My Love is Like a Red Red Rose, written in the 18th Century by Scotand's Bard Robert Burns

[JonArterton]

@SDC05061956

That's right, just as I have credited them.

[williemh75]

I like it - very moving images! Extremely hard to encapsulate the horrors of WW1!

Have you ever done a Flanders battlefield tour?

[JonArterton]

No I haven't. One day perhaps...

[jagexownage]

ww1?

[Iddybud]

This is beautiful, Jon. Very moving. I plan to share it with others. ~ Jude

[confuser69]

That was really great. Thought provoking. I just watched a documentary on WWI titled Timewatch: The Last Day of WW I. Timewatch is a BBC show that airs once a month and explores a new topic each time. Anyway, Amnesty was at 3 a.m. but generals and other leaders decided not to tell anyone until much later and then informed everyone the war would end at 11 a.m. 100,000 soldiers died on the last day of WW I for various idiotic reasons.

[brokkenstar]

Excellent piece depicting the truth by exposing that dirty, murdering, and tempting 'Old Lie". I have heard one English translation of the Latin 'Old Lie' as: "It is sweet and `noble` to die for one's country." Perhaps you can do one concerning recent American un-declared wars from Korea to present. With a shorter version, and harder verse and sound to wake up the too busy having fun American.

[ToddClassical]

Very moving, you captured the horrors of war extremely well. Thanks for sharing.

Best wishes for the future.

Todd.

[jmmymak]

Amazing! How moving.