GREATER LOVE

Flowers of Peace

Second World War Memorial Concert

Directed by Christopher Latham

Llewellyn Hall, August 15

 

 

Reviewed by Len Power

 

 

Heroism comes in many forms. Inspired by the many acts of heroism and sacrifice by those who fought in the Second World War, the concert, Greater Love, honoured those heroes through the power of music.

The concert was a massive undertaking. It featured an extraordinary lineup of performers including esteemed actor, John Bell (narrator), musicians Simon Tedeschi (piano), Edward Neeman (piano), Helen Ayres (violin), Alice Giles (harp), Dong Ma (erhu), Callum G’Froerer (trumpet) and William Barton (didgeridoo) as well as singers Andrew Goodwin (tenor) and Rachel Mink (soprano). The Canberra Symphony Orchestra, ADF musicians and guest musicians made up the huge orchestra.

 

Also performing were the Flowers of Peace Chorus, Brisbane Chamber Choir and the Luminescence Children’s Choir. It was directed and conducted by Chris Latham with guest conductors SQNLDR Daniel Phillips, MAj Doug Hall and CMDR Cassandra Mohapp.

Chris Latham, director and conductor

There were newly commissioned works by William Barton, Paul Carr, Elena Kats-Chernin, Graeme Koehne, Peggy Polias, Cyrus Meurant, Andrew Schultz, Karen Tanaka and Julian Yu. There were also recovered and arranged works by Albert Arlen, Isador Goodman, Miriam Hyde, Margaret Dryburgh, Horace Perkins and many others.

John Bell, narrator

As the concert progressed, a projected slideshow enhanced the narration and the music with photographs, art and statistics showing the appalling human cost of the war. These words, statistics and music produced an intense emotional impact as the concert progressed.

There were many musical highlights including Miriam Hyde’s Faith in Darkness, the first item of the concert, Isadore Goodman’s New Guinea Fantasy, Margaret Dryburgh’s arrangement of Dvořák’s Largo from his New World Symphony, Graeme Koehne’s Caring, William Barton’s Love of Country, Love of Land, Elena Kats-Chernan’s To Hold The World, Andrew Schultz’s De Profundis and Paul Carr’s The Arms of Love.

Karen Tanaka’s achingly beautiful Eternity, a memorial to the Pacific War was another highlight. In addition, her The Birth of Peace, signifying the birth of the United Nations, was sung superbly by the Luminescence Children’s Choir holding lit candles. The final work, Buddha Symphony by Kōishi Kishi, a Prayer for Peace, brought this memorable concert to a quietly optimistic close.

 

Photos by Dalice Trost

 

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 16 August 2025.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.