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SONGS OF
THE PEOPLE

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'Let me write the songs of the people

and I care not who makes their laws.'

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun

COMMEMORATING THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NUREMBERG TRIALS BY TELLING THE STORY OF HOW THE ECHR GREW AMONGST THE EVIDENCE OF THE WASTELAND CREATED BY THE NAZIS

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DREAMS OF PEACE & FREEDOM 

A powerful, multi-layered performance exploring the birth of modern human rights through the eyes of David Maxwell Fyfe, Nuremberg prosecutor and ECHR champion with musical settings of words that inspired him.

Next Perfomances

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Old Fire
Station
Oxford

Tuesday 19th February

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The Studio Theatre
Isle of Man

Tuesday 10th March

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Southwark Cathedral

Monday 3rd November

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Museum of Liverpool

Saturday 1st November

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Cambridge Friend's Meeting House

Thursday 23rd October

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Coventry Cathedral

Sunday 19th October

Sue Lily, Robert

Manchester Friend's Meeting House

Sunday 5th October

Sue, Lily, Robert

Newcastle Friend's Meeting House

Tuesday 7th October

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Edinburgh Festival Fringe

C alto (Theatre)
Quaker Meeting House

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Dornoch Cathedral

Friday 20th June

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Amnesty Human Rights Festival,
Liverpool

Saturday 7th June

One Story

Winter of Liberation

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Tom Blackmore explores why for David Maxwell Fyfe the evidence at Nuremberg and the drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights were all one story. 

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Nuremberg
Trials 80

As the new 'Nuremberg' film is released featuring Richard E Grant as British prosecutor David Maxwell Fyfe, we offer an intimate insight into the man, his story and the notable cross-examination of Hitler's deputy, Hermann Goering.

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David Maxwell Fyfe on a rock

David Maxwell Fyfe

British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials who went on to champion and draft the European Convention on Human Rights

The Human's in the Telling

A New Generation of his Family...

tell the story of David's journey

from Nuremberg to Strasbourg

in live performances of a song cycle,

a filmed recording and scrapbook

Filmed Recording
Dreams of Peace & Freedom: The Humans in the Telling 

In a Sussex forest, David's family explore the significance of his story under the shadow of pandemic restrictions.

Scrapbook
Letters, Transcripts, Blogs and Posts 

Drawing on a family archive of personal papers, we follow in the footsteps of David and Sylvia, discovering their story from a world where ECHR is becoming increasingly vulnerable

Letters, Transcripts, Blogs, and Tweets Front Cover
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Our political story

'At a time when Human Rights and international law feel particularly precarious…I hope more politicians of all parties can learn from our history of rights in law and practice, rooted in the values demonstrated by Maxwell Fyfe, and commit to the enduring value of the ECHR'

Angela O'Hagan

Scottish Human Rights Commission

Read how Songs of the People have attracted support from Parliament and the

Prime Minister

Robert Blackmore, Lily Casson, Sue Casson Protest against Rewanda policy

‘What began as a celebration
has become
a call to arms’

These words spoken by Helen Mountfield, Principal of Mansfield College express our journey of the last 5 years as we have responded to the changing political climate 

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Winter of Liberation

80 years ago the prosecutors at Nuremberg were piecing together for the first time a picture of the barbarism of the Nazi state. 

 

Prosecutor David Maxwell Fyfe saw the value of the evidence to future generations, including documents and images carried by released PoWs marching across Europe in early 1945.

ECHR75 at 
Festival Fringe
 

'A love letter to Edinburgh as well as the values of peace, freedom and remembrance.'

The National

 

We celebrated ECHR's protections with performances of our song cycle, Dreams of Peace & Freedom in Edinburgh, David Maxwell Fyfe's birthplace, this August at C alto

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ECHR75 performances

In 2025 we celebrated the protections of ECHR in its 75th year with performances of Sue Casson's Dreams of Peace & Freedom

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Launch for ECHR75

To launch Songs of the People, our commemoration of ECHR75 we travelled the length of the country peddling hope and seeking inspiration as we sang to celebrate its protections.

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What people say
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Support
Songs of the People

Take action to protect and celebrate the European Convention on Human Rights

in its 75th anniversary year

Make a donation

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Amount

£25

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Thanks and Acknowledgements

We recognize our debt to all who have helped and supported us and we are very grateful to them.

Tom, Lily, Sue,Robert
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