The Dutch rememember

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 25/02/2016 11:50:27

Tom Crosbie (SBS veteran) sent the following link and detail.:

'Il Silenzio' .....Beautiful and Haunting

About six miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall/winter of 1944. Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" soldier in a place of honour in their home.

Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since.

This year the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands). This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

That was lovely.

I remembered the title - I listened to this many times back when I was 13 - Nini Rosso wrote it and he was in the charts back then.

What I didn't know was the significance. No wonder dad liked it so much.

Brilliant, thanks for the link.
Kevin

Very moving.
I remember my father saying that the Dutch were reduced to eating Tulip bulbs but still gave whatever they could to the British troops.