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'In Dreams of Peace & Freedom, inspirational quotations from the speeches, letters and autobiography of David Maxwell Fyfe, naturally thread through musical settings of poetry he found inspiring. The melody infuses his chosen words with another unspoken dimension - emotion to reinforce the story; rather as in his speeches, the poetry he ofte quotes heightens the tenor of his legal argument.'
Cast & Creatives
Dreams of Peace & Freedom
Poetry and words set to music by Sue Casson
Conceived and directed by Tom Blackmore
An informal performance in support of Justice for Ukraine by a new generation of the family of
David Maxwell Fyfe, Nuremberg prosecutor and British artisan of the ECHR.
David Maxwell Fyfe : Robert Blackmore
Sylvia Maxwell Fyfe and lead singer : Lily Casson
Narrator and singer : Sue Casson
Filmed and edited by Robert Blackmore
Photography by Lily Casson Blackmore
Violin : Mary Young Cello : Fraser Bowles Piano : Sue Casson
Programme
Lines translated from the Magna Carta interwoven with excerpts from a speech made by David Maxwell Fyfe to the American Bar Association in 1957 when they visited Britain to unveil a plaque to Magna Carta at Runnymede.
Blow out you Bugles - lines from Rupert Brooke's War Sonnet III frame David Maxwell Fyfe's account of his meeting with America's Justice Jackson, (whose voice can be heard on an archive recording) to decide what to do with the major war criminals after World War II.
These Hearts - lines from Rupert Brooke's War Sonnet IV 'The Dead' follow David Maxwell Fyfe's response to seeing a film of the liberation of Auschwitz during the Nuremberg Trials.
Now God be Thanked - lines from Rupert Brooke's War Sonnet I - 'Peace', is woven around the story of David Maxwell Fyfe's preparation to cross-examine leading war criminals at the Nuremberg trials.
The narration is taken from letters exchanged between Maxwell Fyfe and his wife written at the time.
Non Semper Imbres - verses from James Logie Robertson's Scottish dialect poem Non Semper Imbres. David Maxwell Fyfe copies out this poem in a letter to his wife Sylvia as the trials are drawing to a close, saying that it 'rather expresses our mood just now'.
The Soldier Rupert Brooke's War Sonnet V 'The Soldier'. David Maxwell Fyfe quoted the end of this sonnet to evoke a vision of a peaceful world for all nations in his summing up at the Nuremberg Trials.
Safety - lines from Rupert Brooke's War Sonnet II of the same name.
In the narration, taken from David Maxwell Fyfe's papers, he ponders on the nature of human rights.
There are Waters - lines from Rupert Brooke's War Sonnets IV and II interweave with David Maxwell Fyfe's account, taken from his autobiography, of how he came to be part of the United Europe Movement responsible for drafting the Convention of Human Rights.
The International Manga Carta - Maxwell Fyfe's draft words to introduce the European Convention are set as a descant to the opening setting of Magna Carta