NHS staff perform music composed by six-year-old Apollo Premadasa

FOUR Barts Health medical staff from Newham hospital and the Royal London hospital have performed a piece of classical music composed by a six-year-old boy in tribute to health workers and scientists on the 73rd birthday of NHS.

The concert took place in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s hospital on Monday (5), reported The Guardian. 

Apollo Premadasa has written Pandemia and informed St Bart’s hospital in the City of London last year that he had written the piece as a “thank you” to health workers everywhere, the report added. 

The piece, written for a string quartet in C minor, has three movements – “Survival”, “Hope” and “Fight” – signifying the journey the NHS, UK and the whole world have been on these past 18 months, it said.

“I wrote this piece to say thank you to all the doctors, nurses and scientists around in the UK and around the world for all their hard work during the pandemic. It’s been a really hard time for them and they have all been heroes," Apollo told The Guardian.

As Monday marked the first opportunity for a public performance of the piece and its world premiere, the six-year-old,

Premadasa, who studies multiple instruments including cello and trombone at Junior Guildhall, added that 'hearing his composition 'played by musicians in real-life was amazing'.

“The world, the NHS, our patients and our staff have never before needed help in healing more than they do now. This piece is a symbolic representation of all that we have been through together and it’s a privilege to be able to perform its world premiere," said Dr Andrew Kelso, the medical director of Newham hospital and cellist in the quartet.

"Thank you to Apollo for writing it – it is a precious thing. Music heals.”

Dr Liat Sarner, deputy medical director of the hospital, told The Guardian: “The last 18 months have been incredibly hard on NHS staff. To be able to play the premiere of Apollo’s piece, his ‘thank you’ for the work we have done, in front of NHS staff, was incredibly emotional and special. I’m so proud to have been involved.”

On Monday, the Queen awarded the prestigious George Cross to the health service, recognising the 'courage, compassion and dedication' of NHS staff in all four nations of the UK, past and present.