Royal Marine’s war diary inspires choral tribute

By Ian YoungsArts reporter, BBC News

Lt John Thornton was described as a popular and formidable
soldier

When Lieutenant John Thornton wrote about “the numbers game” in
his diary while serving in Afghanistan, he was expressing his fears
about the chances of becoming a victim of a roadside bomb.

Four months later, the Royal Marine was killed by such a
device.

Now, that passage from his war diary has provided the
inspiration for a choral work that seeks to tell the story of
Marines in Afghanistan and the devastation wrought on their
families when they do not return.

“I think it is a story that needs telling,” says Pete Thornton,
Lt Thornton’s father.

Eternal Voices, which receives its world premiere on Saturday,
has been written by Adam Gorb, the Royal Northern College of
Music’s head of composition, and librettist Ben Kaye.

Newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald will take part by reading real
headlines about Afghan casualties during the performance at Exeter
Cathedral.

Kaye spent a year interviewing injured Marines and bereaved
families, including Pete Thornton and his wife Linda of Ferndown,
Dorset.

Going through the diary with Kaye and reliving the events of
spring 2008 was painful, Mr Thornton said, but necessary to tell
the story behind the fleeting headlines.

“You’re across the newspapers and media for a really short
period of time, and yet the grief lives with you forever,” he
explains.

“I’m doing it not just for us, but all the other bereaved
families who feel exactly the same way.