Violins to honour war poets donated to Oswestry
Three violins dedicated to Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves were among a collection of stringed instruments donated to the town of Oswestry at the opening of the Wilfred Owen Festival on Saturday, 15 March.
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Edinburgh based luthier and nature conservationist Steve Burnett presented the instruments to Oswestry, the birthplace of Wilfred Owen, as a tribute to him and other figures from the First World War.
All the instruments were made from a large, pruned branch of a living sycamore tree that still grows in the grounds of the former Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. It was here in 1917 that Owen was treated for shell shock, and where he met fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Steve said: “We chose a limb from a sycamore tree growing alongside a beautiful old copper beech at Craiglockhart as a poignant statement of the sacrifices of that generation. Inside the Wilfred Owen violin are the words of his pre-war poem ‘Written in a Wood, September 1910’.”
Wood from the limb was also used to make violins dedicated to poets Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves. Steve also made a cello dedicated to doctors W.H.R. Rivers and A.J. Brock, who treated the war poets at Craiglockhart, and a viola in tribute to the hospital matron Maggie McBean and to all the other nurses.
Steve sees the instruments as “a complete musical voice of a living tree, highlighting in the words of Owen, ‘the pity of war’.”
All five instruments have been played at concerts and events across Europe relating to themes of peace, reconciliation and friendship through the power of music.
Arren Roberts, Town Clerk at Oswestry Town Council, said: “Wilfred Owen is a son of Oswestry, he was born here, he trained here, and we are proud of this heritage. It is a privilege to receive these very special instruments on behalf of our town.
“They will help the people of Oswestry and beyond remember him and his words which seem as relevant now as they ever have done. His bleak realism, his energy and indignation, his compassion and his great technical skill are evident in many well-known poems.
“The instruments will serve as a reminder of the futility of war, the hatred that it incites and pain that it causes both directly and indirectly. They are a symbol of peace and of hope.”
The instruments will be played at The Wilfred Owen Classical Music Concert for Peace & Reconciliation at Christchurch on Sunday, 23 March, doors open 7pm. Tickets to this and other festival events available at wilfredowenfestival.co.uk.
