2018 Concert Series Gallipoli to the Somme | Page 9

the loss of his comrades, and various encounters with the German army.
The sound of his solo violin, which he took with him through the war,
also pervades the piece. Somehow the violin survived and found its way
back to Otago Boys High, Aitken’s old school. I have used extracts from
Aitken’s book, which are surrounded by a wide variety of other texts,
most of them contemporaneous with the war. There are several poems
by soldiers who died during the war, along with traditional song texts
with re-composed music. There are even re-compositions of Schubert
and Handel, resulting from Aitken experiences and thoughts. One
example: at the Somme, Aitken sees a sign-post with a finger pointing
the direction to the town of Ypres. Even by September 1916 the name
‘Ypres’ was infamous, and reminded Aitken of Schubert’s famous song
Der Wegweiser (The Signpost) that contains the ominous line “There’s a
road that I must wander / Where no traveller returns.”
The work ends with words by the great Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, taken from the Anzac war memorial in Canberra. This healing
text is set to the same music that begins the work, providing a frame
for the whole oratorio. Another unifying element in the work is the
recurring ‘battle music’ – harsh, relentless, astringent and repetitive.
There is no escaping the ugliness of war. The ‘battle music’ uses texts
in different languages each time: Maori, English, German, and there is a
purely instrumental version featuring the solo violin.
Below are the texts, with introductions. Some texts have been
abridged.
Part One - Departing
1. Prelude . Solo violin and strings.
2. E te ope tuatahi (The Angry-Eyed God) – Chorus. Part of a recruiting
song with text by Sir Apirana Ngata, for The First Maori Contingent, who
served in Egypt, Gallipoli, France, Belgium. Translation by James Cowan
in his book the Maoris in the Great War (1926).

E te ope tuatahi

No Aotearoa,

No Te Wai-pounamu,

No nga tai e wha.

Ko koutou ena
(translation)
‘We greet our first war band
From Aotearoa
From the Island of Greenstone:
We sing of our warriors,
Our gallant Five Hundred
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