IN FLANDERS FIELDS
Music by Anthony Hutchcroft
Words by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields Song
The Story Behind Creating the Music
My
name is Anthony Hutchcroft and I am a Canadian composer. I recently
created a music interpretation of fellow Canadian Lieutenant Colonel
John McCrae’s immortal war memorial poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS.
On June 11th 2007, seven months to the day after Remembrance Day, I had posed for a photo in front of the flower bed just outside my kitchen window. It was the most amazing thing. The year before there were only a few rose bushes but for some reason, this year, the entire flower bed was full of “self-seeded” poppies!
John McCrae wrote the poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS on May 3, 1915 while
still at the battle front during the second battle at Ypres in Belgium.
The day before, his close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell and in the absence of a Chaplan, John McCrae performed the burial service under the cover of darkness.
The next morning, Sergeant-Major Cyril Allinson silently watched as McCrae sat at the back of an ambulance and composed what is now considered to be the world’s most famous and recognized war memorial poem, “IN FLANDERS FIELDS”.
Allinson later stated, "The poem was an exact description of the scene in front of us both.”
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row…that mark our place”
History’s most recognized war memorial poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS remains synonymous with Remembrance throughout the world, yet in Canada, where the credo of “less is more” prevails, the poem and the memory of its author, John McCrae, silently slips from the conscience of Canadians.
The year 2007 was trumpeted as the 90th anniversary of Canada's victory
at Vimy Ridge (where most historians say Canada first became recognized
as its own nation) and 2008 will herald the 90th anniversary of the
end of the First World War.
Sadly, the heralding of the 90th anniversary of the end of the "War
To End All Wars" will most likely eclipse the 90th anniversary
of John McCrae's death. 2008 is also the 135th year since John McCrae's
birth and the 40th anniversary of the official opening of John McCrae
House, the stone cottage birthplace and present museum in Guelph, Ontario.
2008 also marks the 10th anniversary of the recovery of John McCrae's war medals, which were thought to be lost for over 80 years before showing up at an auction in 1998. Shamefully, it was not Veteran Affairs nor the Canadian Government, nor anyone Canadian born that stepped up to save McCrae’s war medals.
Landed immigrant Arthur Lee, a Toronto businessman, in an 11th hour rescue paid $400,000; out-bidding collectors so that he could save McCrae’s medals, keep them in Canada and donate them to the McCrae museum in Guelph (which itself was almost lost to demolition in 1966). It was during the auction that Arthur Lee read the poem for the first time. He felt that as a new Canadian it was his duty to save the medals to ensure that they stayed in Canada.
“…and in the sky the larks still
bravely singing fly
scare heard amid the guns below”
In October 2006 I chanced upon an online Dominion Institute poll stating that over 50% of Canadians aged 18 – 24 years were not even aware of the poem or of John McCrae.
Imagine my shame; for I felt I could not have fared much better.
Like most Canadians, I recited IN FLANDERS FIELDS in grade school but as an adult, like most, I could perhaps recite only the first line. Of McCrae however, I would have been hard pressed to tell you more than that he was a Canadian who wrote the poem during the First World War.
“We are the dead: Short days ago, we
lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
loved and were loved: and now we lie in Flanders fields”
Last October I also chanced upon an online petition by Toronto’s Dominion Institute. At the time Canada had only three surviving First World War veterans, Lloyd Clemett, Percy Wilson and John Babcock. As of this writing only John Babcock survives, having celebrated his 107th birthday this past July.
The petition hoped to convince parliament to approve a State Funeral for the last veteran of the First World War and expected to collect 50,000 signatures; when the petition closed there was an impressive 96,000+ signatures. Mine was one of them.
But something inside me said that for my part, this simply was not enough.
Not unlike John McCrae, the notebooks of my youth are filled with poetry and prose. Each of my English teachers had encouraged me to pursue writing but music was my first love and in due course my poetry evolved into songs and lyrics.
In the weeks prior to November 11th 2006, I remained preoccupied with a singular thought.
“If music is a universal language then why doesn't someone set the poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS to music?”
I convinced myself to no end that an "In Flanders Fields Song."
a music interpretation of the poem, would help put an end to the silence
that has befallen this incredible poem and the memory of its author.
The poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS has reached iconic status, the quintessential war memorial poem that remains an important part of our Canadian culture and heritage.
The challenge of creating a music interpretation, a FLANDERS FIELDS
SONG that did justice to the poem was intriguing.
I resolved that if I were to compose the music then the In Flanders
Fields song must necessarily be completed and available for November
11th of 2007.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe. To
you, from failing hands,
we throw the torch: be yours to hold it high”
IN FLANDERS FIELDS is a war memorial poem so in my mind, any musical interpretation “must” honour that.
In composing the music I first researched the story behind the creation of the poem. I needed to know the man behind the poem and what inspired its writing.
To make the In Flanders Fields song more like an anthem I kept the
melody and chord progression diatonic and remained as true to the rhythm
of the poem as possible. To reflect John McCrae’s Scottish heritage
I included bagpipes in the arrangement. To reflect McCrae’s experience
with war, I supported the composition with a military drumbeat.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS, the song, was completed on the day after Remembrance,
November 12th, 2006.
“If ye break faith with us who die, we
shall not sleep,
though poppies grow in Flanders fields.”
Since 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians across the country traditionally pause for two minutes of silence to honour the memory of the valiant men and women who sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom.
I learned that in a 2006 national poll only 41% of Canadians planned to attend a formal Remembrance Day service, down nine percentage points from 2001. This prompted me to submit this musical interpretation of IN FLANDERS FIELDS to Veteran Affairs Canada.
Currently, I am under consideration as a possible performer should there be a State Funeral for the last World War I veteran or a National Memorial Service to commemorate the passing of that entire generation.
The IN FLANDERS FIELDS SONG is also under consideration for inclusion
in an Educational Resource Pack, to be sent to all the schools in the
U.K. in conjunction with the U.K. planned National Memorial Service
to commemorate the passing of that entire generation.
I also submitted a copy of the IN FLANDERS FIELDS SONG to Her Majesty
the Queen, who responded that she appreciated “the
tribute you have made” and stated that she would
be “interested to know of the state or national occasions
where it might be performed.”
Anthony Hutchcroft
“The the last war fought on Canadian soil ended in August 1814.”
From the book “Marching as to War” by Pierre Berton
