Memorial Tablet

CD41 is proud to announce a new edition to our acclaimed catalogue of historic sound recordings from the Great War of 1914-18, with the first ever audio collection of readings by the celebrated writer and poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) Recorded in the 1950s, Sassoon himself reads three extracts from his autobiographical prose works Memoirs of an Infantry Officer and the Weald of Youth, detailing with the outbreak of war in 1914 and his experiences on the Somme in July 1916. He also recites ten of his best known war poems, including the Dug-Out, at Carnoy, Attack, Died of Wounds, 12 Months After, the Troops, Memorial Tablet, on Passing the New Menin Gate and to One Who Was with Me in the War. Also included are eight peacetime poems by Sassoon, as well as commentary on his life and work by three other celebrated Great War writers, Edmund Blunden, Edgell Rickword and Henry Williamson. The sixty minute CD also features the very first recording of Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto, made in December 1916 with Marie Hall on violin. The Violin Concerto is significant in that it was one of the Sassoon's favourite compositions, and inspired him to write a poem on first hearing it in January 1917. These acoustic recordings are also valuable in that they convey to the modern listener how classical music would have sounded to a gramophone owner (and Sassoon) at the time. The CD is an absolute must for anyone with an interest Great War poets and the First World War generally, and is also idea for library, museum and educational use. All material by Siegfried Sassoon appears by kind permission of George Sassoon.