New Music "Within Sight of Shore"
Halifax Composer Scott Macmillan Remembers the Sinking of WWII Ship
Halifax composer Scott Macmillan wrote a piece that tells the story of the sinking of HMCS Esquimalt. The piece embodies both patriotic and family history.
An event that happened over 60 years ago off the coast of Halifax inspired Halifax composer Scott Macmillan to set a little of his harbor town's history to music. The composition, Within Sight of Shore, received its world premiere at St. John's Church in Lunenburg on April 26 and at Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax on April 27.
The piece tells the story of the HMCS Esquimalt, which sank outside Halifax harbor, victim of a German U-boat in 1945. The ship was the last Canadian warship to fall in WWII and sank stern-first, within 4 minutes. Of the 71 crew members on the ship, only 27 survived the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic. One of those survivors and the commanding officer of the ship was Macmillan's own father, Lieutenant Commander Robert C. Macmillan. Fittingly, the piece premiered just one week after Esquimalt, B.C.'s commemoration of the sinking of the ship, a memorial service which occurs every year on April 16.
Instruments Tell the Story
Scott Macmillan's Within Sight of Shore is divided into four movements: The Hit, The Wait, The Rescue and Ashore. The instrumentation--guitar, banjo, piano, brass and string instruments--represent different actors in the story. The guitar, played by Macmillan himself, represents Macmillan's father; the banjo symbolizes feelings of survivors whom Macmillan interviewed.
• The Hit: This movement suggests the calm that marked the Esquimalt and the sudden terrifying surprise the impact of the torpedo brought. The saxophone and guitar engage in musical exchange, a symbolic conversation between Robert Macmillan and the German U-boat captain.
• The Wait: The second movement explores the emotions of the survivors as they waited six hours in the frigid waters before rescue. The strings drone an imitation of an airplane buzzing overhead; the brass imitates the cries of survivors trying to catch the plane's attention.
• The Rescue: At long last the sounds of the rescue ship--HMCS Sarnia--offer hope. But the joy of rescue is mixed with the bitter loss of fallen comrades. Nearly 2/3 of the crew was lost.
• Ashore: Macmillan feels that the tragedy of the wreck stayed with his father for the rest of his life. The final movement explores the mourning that faced the survivors, even as they celebrated the preservation of their own lives.
Historical Research
In order to portray the story of his father and the others on the HMCS Esquimalt, Scott Macmillan spent some time with primary sources. He interviewed survivors from the ship as well as the chief engineer of the German U-Boat 190 that had sunk the ship. He tried to give a sympathetic view to the Germans who were just following orders and had fired on the Esquimalt out of fear that they were being attacked.
Sources
"Within Sight of Shore: Program Notes".
"New Music Commemorates 1945 Sinking of Esquimalt Near Halifax". CBC News.
