Astrid Williamson releases ‘Requiem & Gallipoli’, her first large-scale classical composition.

Astrid first performed ‘Requiem & Gallipoli’ at Hessle All Saints’ Church in June as part of a D-Day remembrance event raising funds for a local Hull veterans’ charity, as well as to raise awareness for Operation Warrior Wellness, a process to address post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans using transcendental mediation in collaboration with the David Lynch Foundation (a charitable donation from the album’s proceeds will also be made).

“I would translate each movement from Latin, then start writing the music at the piano, later orchestrating and singing each individual voice,” explains Astrid of the writing process. “As I began to transcribe the piano arrangement for the orchestra I found myself thinking, ‘this section must to be on flute, not oboe, not bassoon’, it was incredibly intuitive work – the music seemed to unfurl before me. I actually dreamt the ‘In Paradisum’ and had to get up and write it down immediately. I also found it liberating that in essence the piece was not personal to events in my life. It was refreshing to not be pouring out my experiences, rather I felt I was drawing upon a more collective understanding of loss and release.”