''Sanguis Venenatus'' is an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

for strings by English composer

Andrew March Andrew March is an English composer (born 1973). He was the winner of the first-ever Masterprize Composition Competition with his piece '' Marine — à travers les arbres''. Andrew studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Jerem ...

written in memory of

haemophiliac Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

s (and others) affected by the Tainted Blood Scandal. The elegy was included in a service on 30 March 2011, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the UK legislation – the

Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes provision with respect to the welfare of chronically sick and disabled persons. The Act, often shortened to ′CSDPA′, was given Roya ...

. ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was dedicated to the late

Lord Morris of Manchester Alfred Morris, Baron Morris of Manchester, (23 March 1928 – 12 August 2012) was a British Labour Co-operative politician and disability rights campaigner. Political career Morris served as Member of Parliament for Manchester Wythenshawe fr ...

, to recognise his long–standing support and advocacy for persons with haemophilia.

Composition

In 2009, Andrew March completed a cycle of 10 string quartets based on the characteristics of diurnal

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

. The fifth piece, entitled ''Elegy for an Unsuspecting

Phalarope __NOTOC__ A phalarope is any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus ''Phalaropus'' of the bird family Scolopacidae. Phalaropes are close relatives of the shanks and tattlers, the ''Actitis'' and Terek sandpipers, a ...

'' was inspired by the image of a huge

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

snatching a small grey

wading bird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

. The photograph, which appeared in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

on 16 January 2009, was taken by two birdwatchers, Paul Freestone and Tim Twiggs at St Gothian Sands in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. For March, this image became a poignant metaphor for the disaster which befell thousands of haemophiliacs who were treated with contaminated blood products. The quartet was subsequently reworked for the forces of a full string orchestra, after which the elegy was given the Latin title, ''Sanguis Venenatus''; the closest possible rendering of ″Tainted Blood″. The score, completed in 2009, bears the inscription: ''″This work is dedicated to all the haemophiliacs and others who have lost their lives through contaminated blood and blood products.″'' In the April 2013 edition of the European Haemophilia Consortium newsletter, the composer talked in personal terms about what motivated him to write the elegy:

Recording

The piece was recorded in Reduta Hall,

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on 9 July 2011, by 50 string players from the

Moravian Philharmonic The Moravian Philharmonic (''Moravská filharmonie Olomouc'') is a Czech classical orchestra founded in 1945. Its resident venue is the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc. The current director is conductor Petr Vronský. Notable collaborators include ...

under conductor,

Petr Vronský Petr Vronský (born 1946) is a Czech conductor. From 1983-1991 he conducted the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue ...

. ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was released as the fourth track on the CD album ''Dimensions – Works for String Orchestra'' by Navona Records (NV5895) on 13 November 2012. The ''Dimensions'' album was reviewed in Gramophone in March 2013, where

Donald Rosenberg Donald Rosenberg (born 1952) is an American musician, music critic and journalist. Biography Rosenberg was born in New York City and educated at the Mannes College of Music and the Yale School of Music. He is a horn player, who participated in ...

said that ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was ″intensly felt″ and that the elegy was characterised by ″slow, aching lines and mild dissonances".

Performances

The world première of ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was given on Saturday, 20 March 2010, at

Todmorden Town Hall Todmorden Town Hall is a municipal building in Halifax Road, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Todmorden Town Council, is a grade I listed building. History In the mid-19th century Todmorden exper ...

, by the strings of the Todmorden Orchestra under conductor Nicholas Concannon Hodges. The première was followed by positive review describing the one–movement elegy as a first–hand musical metaphor for thousands of haemophiliacs given contaminated blood. On Wednesday, 30 March 2011, the elegy received a second performance during a commemorative service at Westminster Abbey with the strings of the London Charity Orchestra under William Carslake. The service celebrated the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the

Broadcasts

The first known radio broadcast of ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was on WPRB 103.3 fm

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, on 28 November 2012. On 14 January 2013, ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was aired on South Africa's dedicated classical station, Classic FM 102.7, and the elegy has since appeared on their regular playlist. On 24 January 2013,

Catalunya Ràdio ''Catalunya Ràdio'' () is Catalonia's public radio network. With headquarters in Barcelona, it is part of the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CCMA), owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Catalunya Ràdio broadcasts exclusively i ...

, Barcelona, broadcast ''Sanguis Venenatus'' with a subtitle in the playlist describing the piece as ''"elegia per a orquestra de corda"''. On Monday, 25 February 2013,

Sveriges Radio P2 P2 (''pe två'') is one of the four main radio channels operated by Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio (SR). It broadcasts music (principally classical music and jazz) and also carries educational pro ...

gave the first broadcast of ''Sanguis Venenatus'' on 'P2 Klassiskt' in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The elegy subsequently became a regular feature of the P2 playlist. ''Sanguis Venenatus'' received its first radio broadcast in Hungary on Thursday, 16 January 2014, during a programme called "Ars Novo" on Budapest's dedicated classical station, MR3 Rádió Bartók. ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was broadcast in the UK for the first time on 9 October 2015. The elegy was introduced by Verity Sharp on

Late Junction ''Late Junction'' is a music programme broadcast weekly on Friday nights by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "Experimental music for adventurous listeners.", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear medieval ballads juxtaposed wit ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. In keeping with the 'tainted blood' theme, ''Sanguis Venenatus'' was broadcast on Canada′s Radio–Classique Québec on

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

, Friday, 1 December 2017.

References

External links