Baroness Shirley Williams, a Vice-President and long-standing supporter of the Buxton International Festival, suggested to Michael Williams (no relation) that he had to do ‘something musical’ on the life of her mother, Vera Brittain. When Michael discovered that Ivor Novello’s music was in the public domain, and that Novello shared a birthday with Vera Brittain on January 15, 1893, the creative synergy became clear. By pairing Novello’s iconic songs with Vera’s narrative, he could create a work where the era’s most famous composer provided the musical soul for its most important memoir.

Vera Brittain was a nurse, writer, feminist, socialist, and pacifist who, along with her brother Edward, was raised in an upper middle-class household in Buxton. When the First World War erupted, Vera raged against the injustice of the conflict; fuelled by a sense of powerlessness, she volunteered as a nurse. The war ultimately claimed her fiancé, her brother, and two of her closest friends. In response, she penned her bestselling memoir, Testament of Youth, a cry of outrage and agony intended to ensure the futility of their deaths would never be forgotten.

Ivor Novello’s songs were among the biggest hits of their day, and his musicals were a massive success across the UK. While the shows themselves have almost completely disappeared from the modern stage, many of the songs remain a staple of the English popular song canon. True to the style of the era, the original songs were often richly orchestrated with swooping strings, sentimental sighing phrases, and lush harmonies.

In these new arrangements, Novello’s songs speak freshly and directly to modern ears. For this production, the music has been arranged for a small orchestra with a sound that accommodates both Classical intimacy and the brightness of early jazz. They have also been adapted to suit contemporary musical theatre voices as well as opera singers. Novello’s musical genius has been preserved, but given a vibrant new life within this remarkable and touching story.

Iain Farrington Composer/Arranger