American composer Eric Starr suggests listening to this program from start to finish, as though it were a concert. He is right to do so. For the cumulative emotional effect of what is in effect a recital of unconstructed songs (spoken poems alternating with instrumental music) is nearly overwhelming.

Released on Armistice Day 2022, Between the Sandhills and the Sea – A Tribute to Vera Brittain & Winifred Holtby honours the friendship, the achievements, and the losses of two extraordinary women.

Brittain (1893-1970) served as a nurse during the Great War during which she witnessed many horrors and lost both her brother and her fiancé. All this she documented and spoke about. She is perhaps best remembered for the memoir Testament of Youth. But she also wrote poetry, some of which is featured on this recording.

Brittain’s great friend and fellow humanist and versifier Winifred Holtby (1898-1935) died too young but left a lasting legacy. Not only did she fight for women’s rights and against racism, both in South Africa; she also wrote the acclaimed feminist novel South Riding