Ghosts of Vimy
Kenley Kristofferson
Ensemble: Concert Band
Additional Performing Forces: Chorus
Grade: 4
Duration: 09:00
Year of Composition: 2010
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Program Notes:
Content warning: War
"Ghosts of Vimy" is based on a painting by William Longstaff that depicts hundreds of fallen silhouetted soldiers scaling the hill at the Vimy Memorial in France. During Remembrance Day, we often celebrate the victories and we remember the sacrifice that was given, but when faced with numbers like 100,000 soldiers or 3600 dead, we lose track of the personal connection of war to families, to relationships, to parents and to their children. Every soldier both on that field and in that painting had a family, had dreams, had aspirations... and had a story. We must not only remember sacrifice, but we must honor the stories of the men and women who protected our freedom and culture during the war.
"Ghosts of Vimy" tells the stories of three of the ghosts who scale the hill. The soldiers are represented by the choir, who sing to audience as their voice, pleading for the audience to learn from their message. As the story is told entirely by the ghosts, it is implied that none of the characters in our story survive, demonstrating that every friend, family and citizen was affected by the war. All of the stories are connected by a single word, called out by the choir as a mass of spirits spreading their story: "Remember."
(Kenley Kristofferson)
