Filmed Live Performance: Soldiers’ Hymn – A Remarkable Extract From The Durham Hymns | Live at Durham Cathedral
A filmed live performance can capture something that no rehearsal or studio version ever quite holds: the weight of presence, the energy of shared silence, the unrepeatable emotion of a specific moment in time.
Soldiers’ Hymn, part of The Durham Hymns, was one of those moments. Performed at Durham Cathedral in 2016 to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, this powerful composition was commissioned as a tribute to the people of County Durham during the First World War.
Written by BAFTA-winning composer Jessica Curry, Soldiers’ Hymn draws from letters, poems, and historical texts, many of them penned by local people during wartime. These words were curated by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and set to music with depth, delicacy, and an emotional force that only grows when performed live. Filming this live performance meant finding a visual and sonic language that could hold that emotional space—honouring the music while never intruding on it.
Durham Cathedral is one of the most resonant and atmospheric locations I’ve ever filmed in. Its vaulted ceilings, stone pillars, and long nave create a sound environment that’s both intimate and immense. For a filmed live performance like Soldiers’ Hymn, the setting wasn’t just a backdrop—it was part of the composition. Brass echoed off ancient stone, choral voices floated upward, and the whole piece seemed to breathe with the architecture.
As a music documentary filmmaker, I approached the project with sensitivity and restraint. The story wasn’t mine to tell—it was already being told through music, text, and performance. My role was to hold the moment, to frame it faithfully, and to bring a wider audience into that shared experience. I used multiple cameras placed discreetly throughout the cathedral, working with natural lighting wherever possible to preserve the ambient glow of the space. Long lenses captured the emotion on faces; wide static shots conveyed the grandeur and unity of the ensemble.
The Durham Hymns was commissioned by the Northern Regional Brass Band Trust and Durham County Council. It brought together musicians from around the region, creating a collective voice that paid tribute to the resilience and sacrifice of Durham’s communities during World War I. The result is music that feels both deeply rooted and spiritually expansive—haunting in the best sense of the word.
One of the things I’ve come to value most in filmed live performance is the way it invites repeat experience. While the concert in the cathedral happened once, the film allows others to connect with it years later, in different places and at different times. But that only works if the film respects the atmosphere of the original moment. In Soldiers’ Hymn, the pacing is slow, the cuts minimal, and the sound mix is carefully balanced to reflect the spatial depth and tonal layering of the cathedral acoustics.
Jessica Curry’s score builds with grace and intensity—brass and choir rising together in passages that feel both mournful and proud. The piece doesn’t sentimentalise; it remembers. Through the film, I wanted to preserve that tone: reflective, solemn, but full of human dignity. The faces of the performers, the close-ups of hands, the quiet swells of breath between notes—all of these became part of the emotional language of the film.
Looking back, Soldiers’ Hymn is one of the most moving projects I’ve worked on. It sits at the intersection of music, memory, and place—where historical research becomes performance, and performance becomes shared remembrance. It’s a testament to what filmed live performance can do: preserve not just a concert, but a communal act of honouring, feeling, and remembering together.
If you’d like to watch more of my work exploring community stories, creative resilience, and diverse subjects across arts, heritage, and the environment, you can explore all my films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/films-by-alan-fentiman/
You can also explore more of my music-related films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/vimeo-videos/music-films/