Overview

Commissioned in partnership with Unicorn Preservation Society, When the Brazen Bands Shall Play is an eight movement musical work by UK composer Michael Betteridge. Performed by brass musicians and a narrator, it was commissioned to commemorate and celebrate HMS Unicorn’s role as a training ship in the First World War.

Renowned brass ensemble The Wallace Collection, were engaged to play original instruments from Unicorn’s collection for this piece. Some instruments had been newly restored specifically for the commission. The instruments were originally used by the bandsmen from HMS Unicorn’s silver band during the First World War. Abandoned and hidden in a cellar during the Siege of Antwerp in 1914, the instruments were discovered after the War and returned to Unicorn’s collection.

The performances included a projection of photographs and film from Imperial War Museum’s and HMS Unicorn’s archives. After the performance in Dundee there was a pipe band procession to HMS Unicorn.

Audiences
8-9 June 2024
Discovery Point, Dundee and Laidlaw Music Centre, St Andrews
Project Partners

The Unicorn Preservation Society 

Communities and Places

By focussing on personal stories of Dundee residents including army recruits, conscientious objectors and women workers, this new composition gave a sense of how a global, total conflict was experienced on a local level. Twenty men who trained on HMS Unicorn were killed during the First World War. The piece reflected on the ways in which local communities have commemorated those lost in war over the past 100 years. 

The commission partnered with musical groups across Scotland including Dundee Instrumental Band, The Wallace Collection, Kingdom Brass, The University of St Andrews Music Centre, and Dundee City Pipe Band. 

Local school children in Dundee and Fife were given an opportunity to compose short solo works, inspired by the sounds of HMS Unicorn. The children were supported by Michael Betteridge, in collaboration with students from the University of St Andrews. 

Watch Film

A short documentary about When the Brazen Bands Shall Play.

Find out more

  • Watch a performance recorded at Laidlaw Music Centre, St Andrews, 9 June 2024. Recording courtesy of the Laidlaw Music Centre.

    Watch performance

  • Michael Moran, Executive Director of HMS Unicorn, shares his reflections on the project.

    Read blog