Pro Patria Mori

The story of the work

Ypres, April 22, 1915 – The German troops launch a new, gruesome form of warfare in our region: chemical weapons. Approx. 5,000 soldiers die due to a poison gas attack.
Pro Patria Mori is inspired by and based on the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by the British poet Wilfred Owen (1893-1918). The poem was written during the First World War and describes how a soldier dies during a poison gas attack. This poem is characterized by its harsh and almost shocking writing style. With this, Owen wanted to make readers feel how hard and chilling the war was. The title of the poem refers to an old Latin expression of the Roman poet Horace (Oden iii.2.13): Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (= It is a virtue and an honor to die for one's country).

Pro Patria Mori is a thoroughly composed work. Each part is based on one or more verses from Owen's poem. The composition not only expresses the verses of Dulce et Decorum Est, but also indirectly describes the atmosphere of the 'Great War' and the horror of chemical warfare in the Ypres landscape. The beginning of the composition sounds mysterious and turbulent. This describes the atmosphere of the days before the outbreak of the First World War. There is clearly a restless and ominous undertone. Then the battle breaks out. The German troops invade Belgium. The end of the battle is reached via a major climax. The lament of the soprano voice expresses the portrait of a gigantic deserted battlefield: thousands of corpses, ruins, craters, abandoned trenches, etc.

The composition ends with a quotation from the cantata Dona Nobis Pacem (= Give us peace) by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. This expressive finale is our own interpretation and orchestration of a theme from the cantata. Dona Nobis Pacem was written in response to the horror of the First World War. With this quote the composition ends with a sign of hope and a plea for peace...

Listening example

World creation during Concert “Ypres As We Remember”, Royal Windband Ypriana Ypres (31/04/2015)

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