Writer hears own music at festival (From Malvern Gazette)

Writer hears own music at festival

4:02pm Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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MALVERN songwriter Elaine Hughes-Jones will be listening to songs she set to music herself when she attends the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester next week.

The four haunting songs, which will be sung by respected tenor James Gilchrist, at Huntingdon Hall on Saturday, August 2, are war poems written by Wilfred Owen.

"I love Owen's poetry and these poems just leapt off the page at me. I just had to write music for them. I found them going round my head even when I was out shopping," said Elaine.

Elaine, 80, said she was rung "out of the blue" by James Gilchrist asking if he could perform her settings of the Wilfred Owen songs. After the performance in Worcester the singer is heading for Poland to sing the songs there.

The songs were first performed in Worcester Cathedral in 2004.

A former BBC accompanist Elaine spent 37 years in broadcasting and also taught at both Malvern College and Malvern Girls College.

Arthritis in her hands in recent years have made playing the piano more difficult and Elaine turned to song writing.

"It's what I'm interested in and it's wonderful to hear songs I've written being performed," said Elaine, who is looking forward to the concert at Huntingdon Hall.

Elaine's settings are for the poems Futility, The Unreturning, I Saw His Round Mouth's Crimson Deepen and The End. There are plans for them to be performed at the Wilfred Owen Association in London next year. Elaine's songs have been performed in America, Norway, Italy, France and Germany.

*THE Three Choirs Festival, billed as one of the oldest music festivals in Europe, takes place in Worcester from August 2-9.

With a tradition and history dating back 300 years the Three Choirs Festival has a reputation for exciting and accessible classical music and choral music.

The festival takes place each year rotating between Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford and is a fim fixture in the music calendar.

The annual week-long festival at Worcester Cathedral has a varied programme that combines established favourites with less well-known pieces. There will be performances from the Philharmonia Orchestra, The Three Cathedral Choirs, the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and the Academy of Ancient Music.

The festival culminates in an accessible and fun final concert , presented in partnership with the Worcester festival. The concert celebrates the best of classic British cinema with performances of well-known soundtracks from Harry Potter, The Battle of Britain, The Red Shoes and Carry On Up The Khyber.

For more information on the Three Choirs programme go to www.3choirs.org. The festival ticket office can be contacted on 0845 6521823.

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