Lancastria

Lancastria

In remembrance

This piece of music creates a sense of remembering the years gone by and those we have lost along the way.

The Origin

I always knew that this piece of music had to feel big and surprise the listener. I had the image of a ship at sea and so the beginning of the piece commences with a set of notes that create the sense of a ship rising and descending upon soft waves. The accompanying melody is sung by the captain of the ship who desperately guides the ship - I placed one note slightly away from where you would expect it to land to create a sense of unknowing as to where this story may end. A set of rhythmic descending notes then sound by the piano to create a sense of urgency and lead to a moment that bursts forth - creating the sense of the regal nature of the ship and all the stories it has harboured and all the lands it has travelled to. The piece suddenly closes back to the original notes upon the soft waves.

The Emotion

This piece of music creates a sense of remembering the years gone by and those we have lost along the way.

The Connection

I remember being caught up in this piece of music when writing it but I couldn’t find a suitable name. On the night of completing the piece of music I had a dream about the events of Dunkirk during the Second World War and the next day I began to research events surrounding the miracle of Dunkirk. To my surprise I came across the story of a tragic event that happened only two weeks afterwards. I learnt that a similar rescue attempt happened near the port of St.Nazaire in France. The ship in question was a luxury liner with many travels to its name. It had even once been chartered by the Catholic Boys Scouts of Ireland for a pilgrimage to Rome. In June 1940, the ship was called upon for the rescue of military and civilians near the port of St.Nazaire. Sources explain that the number of people who boarded the ship on that day far exceeded the ship’s lawful capacity. Tragically, as the ship departed, bombers appeared and attacked. Within 20 minutes, suffering terrible damage, the ship sank bow first. There were 2,477 survivors but the number dead is unknown with estimates ranging from the known 1,738 individuals to 6,500 souls lost. It is now widely considered as the greatest maritime disaster of all time. Within this tragic story I read about four Catholic Chaplains who were on board and remained with those who had no hope of escape. Their story lived on through the survivors who explained how the Chaplains helped in every way they could and offered prayer and absolution to those who were at the point of death. Sadly the story of this event was hushed up in order not to lower the high moral of the public as a result of the events of Dunkirk. When I read this, I realised that there was only one name for this piece of music - in remembrance of all those lost - the name of that very ship: Lancastria.

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