The Knight Who Took All Day is a picture book I have always been fond of. Inspired by my son’s obsession with finding the perfect knight costume to wear to a party, it saddened me to see it go out of print. But books have lives of their own, sometimes, and find new ways of living on…
And so it was with my Knight… for it was proposed, by a circuitous route of contacts, that composer Bernard Hughes should create a new children’s piece for orchestra and narrator… and…er… illustrator.
Last Sunday, January 29th, saw a long process reach it’s climax: the world premiere performances, with the Hertford Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tom Hammond, with me narrating and illustrating. Both sold-out audiences and the orchestra were brimming with anticipation, and came suitably attired in medieval garb. I was dressed as a knight in shining armour of course!
The concert included other dashingly good pieces with links to the theme: Walton’s Henry V most prominent, but also works by Khachaturian, Grieg, Ravel; and Tchaikovsky.
Here are a couple of pictures of the Walton in progress…
Lastly, came the new work… my very own Knight Who Took All Day…It was quite a challenge to remember the words, the cues, AND draw all at the same time, but thanks to Tom’s guidance and Bernard’s brilliant score, it all came together, and the audiences loved it. What a colossal honour for me and my Knight! It was a joyful day!
The art was raffled, and here’s a picture of one very happy young audience member, clutching Henry V!
Huge thanks are due to Hertford Theatre and all the team behind the scenes (Monique, Katie and co…); the orchestra, Tom the conductor… and Bernard, whose wonderful score has inspired Graffeg Books to republish the original book!
If you missed the concert but want to pre-order SIGNED copies of the book, here’s all the info you need:
We all hope this will be the start of a long life in the concert hall for this dazzling score, as well as a re-birth for the book!
Leave a Reply