On 12 November St Martin’s Voices, conductor Andrew Earis, gave the London
premiere of ‘Angel of the Battlefield’ (commissioned by The Glasgow School
of Art choir) in a concert of contemporary choral music for remembrance.
‘Angel of the Battlefield’ focuses on the American 19th nurse, Clara Barton.
A three-movement, a cappella work setting the poetry of Seán Street and
Clara Barton herself.
‘Angel of the Battlefield’ was what the pioneering American self-taught
nurse, Clara Barton, was known as. She worked to save lives in the American
Civil War and later founded the American Red Cross. She achieved so much in
her lifetime in spite of male obstructiveness. Her humanitarian outlook on
life and advocacy of civil rights was far in advance of her time. After the
American Civil War Clara Barton realised that the War Department seemed
incapable of dealing with the thousands of letters from distraught relatives
asking for the whereabouts of their missing soldiers who were being buried
in unmarked graves. So she wrote to President Lincoln to ask (respectfully)
for his permission to allow her to respond to these letters and to find
information about those who time. She was granted permission to begin ‘The
Search for the Missing Men.’ Before this time there had been no protocol in
place to address these important and poignant issues.
Published by OUP November 2024