Buy In Flanders Fields Song on CD or MP3 Download
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Music:
Composed & Performed by Anthony Hutchcroft
Poem:
Lieutenant Colonel
John McCrae (1915)
CD Track 1:
In Flanders Fields (Vocal)
CD Track 2:
In Flanders Fields (Instrumental) |
Why Create the
In Flanders Fields Song? |
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In October of 1997 in an 11th hour rescue, landed immigrant Arthur Lee, a Toronto businessman, paid $506,000 (after commission and taxes); out-bidding foreign collectors so that he could save John McCrae’s war medals, keep them in Canada and donate them to the McCrae House museum in Guelph, Ontario.
It was during the auction that Arthur Lee read the IN FLANDERS FIELDS poem for the first time.
Lee felt that as a new Canadian it was his duty to save John McCrae’s war medals to ensure that they stayed in Canada as part of Canada’s war heritage. 
In the National Film Board’s documentary “John McCrae’s War”, Arthur Lee stated, “We don’t have very many Canadian heroes and we have very quickly forgotten the ones we do have. I just wanted John McCrae to be remembered.”
A few years ago, Canada’s Dominion Institute conducted a poll that revealed over 50% of 18 – 24 year old Canadians had not heard of or was not familiar with the world’s most recognized war memorial poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS or the poem’s author John McCrae.
This is what prompted composer Anthony Hutchcroft to write the In Flanders Fields song, a contemporary musical adaptation of John McCrae’s IN FLANDERS FIELDS poem.
Making the In Flanders Fields Song More “Accessible”
The central idea behind writing the In Flanders Fields song was to create a piece of music that was more memorable and more accessible to a larger audience by making it more accessible to listeners of all ages.
Rather than write the music in a particular style, Hutchcroft wanted to reflect the following three key elements:
- John McCrae’s Scottish heritage
- John McCrae’s military background
- The natural “rhythmic” meter of the In Flanders Fields poem
“You have captured the essence of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s poem
in one swift and powerful message of song and musical sound.
I was reading through the poem ‘Flanders Fields,’ as the music was playing
and moved to tears as not one word was altered.
Thank you for bringing ‘Remembrance Day,’ one of those moments
on the 11th Month, Day and Hour that I will cherish as I remember the life
of my father and the brave men and women that have served Canada
in the Great War, Korea and currently Afghanistan”
Robert G. Whitman, Drum Major/ Band Manager,
York Regional Police Pipes & Drums
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