BRIDPORT: Music composed by musician Sammy Hurden has played a major part in the D-Day anniversary commemorations on both sides of the Channel.

Sammy, who is from Bridport, was commissioned by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to write a piece for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings to be performed in Portsmouth and its twin town of Caen, Normandy.

Her work Sous Les Pommiers (Under the Apple Trees) was performed by primary school children from both regions, and musicians including BSO Resonate Strings, trumpeter Jim Dvorak, percussionists Ben Stephens and James Gilbert, as well as French musicians from the L’Orchestre de Basse-Normandie.

The inaugural performance was held in Portsmouth earlier this year and the project culminated in four performances in settings in Caen recently – two at the Memorial Museum and two in Caen’s town hall.

Sammy, a singer-songwriter and choir leader, watched the 80-strong choir of French and English children aged six to 11 during their final rehearsals of her work.

The 25-minute piece included lyrics taken from soldiers’ memories of D-Day, operational codewords, Eisenhower’s message to the troops, and testimonies of children living in the area of the Normandy beaches where the landings took place.

Much of it is written from the children’s perspective, highlighting how those who lived through it often questioned why they had survived where others’ lives had been sacrificed.

Sammy was helped in her challenge of writing in French as well as English by Kirsty Fergusson and fellow Bridport resident Monique Pasche, who was a child in France during the war and whose father was part of the Resistance.

Sammy said: “Monique was such a great help in translating for me and hearing her personal stories brought new meaning to it all.

“Sadly she was unwell so was unable to travel with us to hear Sous Les Pommiers performed.”

She added: “It was a fascinating project that was all-consuming while I was researching and writing it.

“I hope Sous Les Pommiers will be published now so that schools can perform it in the future.”

Sue English from Bridport, who saw two of the French performances, said: “It was wonderful and very moving to see English and French musicians and school children playing and singing Sammy’s beautiful words and music.”

The project attracted French press and TV attention during Sammy’s week in Normandy and was very well received by audiences, some of whom had personal memories of the events surrounding D-Day.