The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

composed by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The traditional

Latin texts Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

are interspersed, in telling

juxtaposition Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc. Speech Juxtaposition in literary terms is the showing ...

, with extra-liturgical poems by

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by ...

, written during World War I. The work is scored for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

soloists,

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, boys' choir,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, and two orchestras (a full orchestra and a

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

). The chamber orchestra accompanies the intimate settings of the English poetry, while soprano, choirs and orchestra are used for the Latin sections; all forces are combined in the conclusion. The Requiem has a duration of approximately 80–85 minutes. In 2019, ''War Requiem'' was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Composition

The ''War Requiem'', first performed on 30 May 1962, was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new

, which was built after the original 14th-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The reconsecration was an occasion for an arts festival, for which

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

also wrote his opera ''

King Priam ''King Priam'' is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's ''Iliad'', except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the ''Fabulae'' of Hyginus. The premiere was on 29 May 1962, at Coventry. ...

''. Britten, a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, was inspired by the commission, which gave him complete freedom in deciding what to compose. He chose to set the traditional Latin Mass for the Dead interwoven with nine poems about war by the English poet

. Owen, who was born in 1893, was serving as the commander of a rifle company when he was killed in action on 4 November 1918 during the crossing of the Sambre-Oise Canal in France, just one week before the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

. Although he was virtually unknown at the time of his death, he has subsequently come to be revered as one of the great

war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...

s. Philip Reed has discussed the progression of Britten's composition of the ''War Requiem'' in the Cambridge Music Handbook publication on the work. Britten himself acknowledged the stylistic influence of Requiems by other composers, such as

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's, on his own composition. Britten dedicated the work to Roger Burney, Piers Dunkerley, David Gill, and Michael Halliday. Burney and Halliday, who died in the war, were friends of

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

and Britten, respectively. According to the Britten–Pears Foundation's ''War Requiem'' website, Dunkerley, one of Britten's closest friends, took part in the 1944

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Unlike the other dedicatees, he survived the war but committed suicide in June 1959, two months before his wedding. None of the other dedicatees have known graves, but are commemorated on memorials to the missing.

Orchestration

The musical forces are divided into three groups that alternate and interact with each other throughout the piece, finally fully combining at the end of the last movement. The soprano soloist and choir are accompanied by the full orchestra, the baritone and tenor soloists are accompanied by the chamber orchestra, and the boys' choir is accompanied by a small positive organ (this last group ideally being situated at some distance from the full orchestra). This group produces a very strange, distant sound. The soprano and choir and the boys' choir sing the traditional Latin Requiem text, while the tenor and baritone sing poems by

, interspersed throughout. The full orchestra consists of the following instrumentation.

Woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

s :3

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s (third doubling

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

) :2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s :1

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s (third doubling E clarinet and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

) :2

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s :1

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s in C :3

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

s :1

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

:4 players: ::2 antique cymbals (C & F) ::

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

:: bells (C & F) ::

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s ::

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

castanet Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...

s :: Chinese blocks ::

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

::2 side drums ::

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

tenor drum A tenor drum is a membranophone without a snare. There are several types of tenor drums. Early music Early music tenor drums, or long drums, are cylindrical membranophone without snare used in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. They consi ...

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

positive organ A positive organ (also positiv organ, positif organ, portable organ, chair organ, or simply positive, positiv, positif, or chair) (from the Latin verb ''ponere'', "to place") is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more o ...

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

:grand

(''Libera Me'' only)

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

I's :

II's :

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

s :

violoncello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

s :

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

es The chamber orchestra consists of the following instrumentation. Woodwinds :flute (doubling piccolo) :oboe (doubling English horn) :clarinet (in B and A) :bassoon Brass :horn Percussion :timpani :gong :cymbals :bass drum :side drum Strings :

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

:2 violins :viola :violoncello :double bass

Movements and structure

The work consists of six movements:

Musical analysis

The interval of a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

between C and F is a recurring motif, the occurrence of which unifies the entire work. The interval is used both in contexts that emphasize the harmonic distance between C and F and those that resolve them harmonically, mirroring the theme of conflict and reconciliation present throughout the work. The ''Requiem aeternam'', ''Dies irae'', and ''Libera me'' movements end in a brief choral phrase, consisting mainly of slow half notes, each first and second phrase ending on a tritone's

discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...

, with every last (''i. e.'' third) phrase resolving to an F-major chord; while at the end of the ''Agnus Dei'' the tenor (in his only transition from the Owen poems to the Requiem liturgy, on the key words, ''Dona nobis pacem'' – Give us peace) outlines a

perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval fro ...

from C to G before moving down to F to resolve the chorus's final chord. At the end of the ''Dies irae'', the tenor sings (from Owen's "Futility") "O what, what made fatuous sunbeams toil, to break earth's sleep at all?" The notes of "at all" form the tritone and lead into the choir's formal resolution. In the final Owen setting, "Strange Meeting", one of the most prominent expressions of the tritone is sung by the tenor, addressing an opposing soldier with the words "Strange friend". This poem is accompanied by sporadic detached chords from two violins and a viola, which include the tritone as part of a

dominant seventh chord In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad tog ...

. At the end of the poem, the final string chord resolves to the tonic, bringing the work to its final, reconciliatory ''In paradisum''. On a more practical level, Britten facilitated musical execution of the tritone in the closing bars by having the F sung in one voice, but the C in another. Four other motifs that usually occur together are distinct brass

fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...

s of the ''Dies irae'': a rising

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

, a falling arpeggio followed by a repeated note, a repeated fourth in a dotted rhythm ending in a diminished arpeggio, and a descending scale. These motifs form a substantial part of the melodic material of the piece: the setting of "Bugles sang" is composed almost entirely of variations of them. Another linking feature can be found in the opening of the final movement, ''Libera Me'', where the slow march tune in the double basses (preceded by two drums outlining the rhythm) replicates the more-rapid opening theme of the first poem, ''Anthem for Doomed Youth''. One striking juxtaposition is found in the Offertorium, a

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

in the repeating three-part-time scheme , , where the choir sings of God's promise to

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

("Quam olim Abrahae promisisti, et semini eius" – "which you once promised Abraham and his seed"). This frames Owen's retelling of the offering of

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

, in which the angel tells Abraham to: As the male soloists sing the last line repeatedly, the boys sing "Hostias et preces tibi, Domine" ("Sacrifice and prayers we offer thee, Lord"), paralleling the sacrifice of the Mass with the sacrifice of "half the seed of Europe" (a reference to World War I). The "reprise" of "Quam olim Abrahae" is sung in inversion, diminuendo instead of crescendo. The whole of the Offertorium is a reference to Britten's earlier '' Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac'' from 1952. Britten here uses much of the musical material of the earlier work, but the music in the Requiem is twisted into much more sinister forms. Although there are a few occasions in which members of one orchestra join the other, the full forces do not join until the latter part of the last movement, when the tenor and baritone sing the final line of Owen's poem " Strange Meeting" ("Let us sleep now ...") as "In Paradisum deducant" ("Into Paradise lead them ...") is sung first by the boys' choir, then by the full choir (in 8-part canon), and finally by the soprano. The boys' choir echoes the ''Requiem aeternam'' from the beginning of the work, and the full choir ends on the resolved tritone motif.

Premiere and performances

For the opening performance, it was intended that the soloists should be

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (russian: links=no, Галина Павловна Вишневская, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 192611 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist o ...

(a Russian),

(an Englishman) and

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

(a German), to demonstrate a spirit of unity. Close to the premiere, the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities did not permit Vishnevskaya to travel to Coventry for the event, although she was later permitted to leave to make the recording in London. With only ten days' notice,

Heather Harper Heather Mary Harper (8 May 1930 – 22 April 2019) was a Northern Irish operatic soprano. She was active internationally in both opera and concert. She performed roles such as Helena in Benjamin Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the Roy ...

stepped in and performed the soprano role. Although the Coventry Cathedral Festival Committee had hoped Britten would be the sole conductor for the work's premiere, shoulder pain forced his withdrawal from the main conducting role. He did, however, conduct the chamber orchestra, and this spawned a tradition of separate conductors that the work does not require and Britten never envisaged. The premiere took place on 30 May 1962, in the rebuilt cathedral with the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

, conducted by

Meredith Davies (Albert) Meredith Davies CBE (30 July 1922 – 9 March 2005) was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His co-conducting, with the comp ...

(accompanying soprano and chorus), and the

Melos Ensemble The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his ''War Requiem'' for the ...

, conducted by the composer (accompanying tenor and baritone). At Britten's request, there was no applause following the performance. It was a triumph, and critics and audiences at this and subsequent performances in London and abroad hailed it as a contemporary masterpiece. Writing to his sister after the premiere, Britten said of his music, "I hope it'll make people think a bit." On the title page of the score he quoted Wilfred Owen: Because of time zones, the southern hemisphere premiere was about 12 hours ahead of that in North America, though they were on the same day, 27 July 1963. The southern hemisphere premiere was in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand, with John Hopkins conducting the New Zealand National Orchestra (now the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

) and the Royal

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Musical Society, with soloists Peter Baillie, Graeme Gorton and Angela Shaw. The North American premiere was at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

, with

Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...

conducting the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

with soloists

Phyllis Curtin Phyllis Curtin (née Smith; December 3, 1921 – June 5, 2016) was an American soprano and academic teacher who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She is known for her creation of roles in ope ...

Nicholas Di Virgilio Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

Tom Krause Tom Gunnar Krause (5 July 1934 − 6 December 2013) was a Finnish operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Mozart roles. Early life Born in Helsinki, Tom Krause studied medicine for three years with the intention of becoming a psyc ...

and choruses from Chorus Pro Musica and the Columbus Boychoir, featuring boy soprano Thomas Friedman. The Dutch premiere took place during the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archite ...

, in 1964. The Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Choir were conducted by Bernard Haitink; the chamber orchestra (consisting of Concertgebouw Orchestra instrumentalists) by Britten himself. The soloists were Vishnevskaya, Fischer-Dieskau and Pears, in their first public performance together. The English Chamber Choir performed the work at ''Your Country Needs You'', an evening of "voices in opposition to war" organised by The Crass Collective in November 2002. To commemorate the eve of the 70th anniversary of the destruction of the original cathedral, a performance of the Requiem took place in the new cathedral on 13 November 2010, featuring the soprano Claire Rutter, the tenor Daniel Norman, baritone Stephen Gadd, The Parliament Choir, Saint Michael's singers, Deutscher Chor London, the ESO Chamber Orchestra, The Southbank Sinfonia and The Girl Choristers of Coventry Cathedral. It was conducted by Simon Over and Paul Leddington Wright. A recording was made and broadcast a day later on Classic FM. A second performance with the same performers took place on 17 November 2010 at Westminster Cathedral. A 50th anniversary performance was given by the

conducted by Andris Nelsons at Coventry Cathedral on 30 May 2012. As part of Lincolnshire Remembers commemoration of the centenary of the end of the First World War, Lincoln Cathedral hosted a performance of Britten's War Requiem. On Saturday 3 November 2018, singers from Lincoln Choral Society, Gainsborough Choral Society, Scunthorpe Choral Society, Grimsby Philharmonic Society, Louth Choral Society, Neustadt Liedertafel, and the Choristers of Lincoln Cathedral were joined by the Lincolnshire Chamber Orchestra. The soloists were Rachel Nicholls (soprano), Alessandro Fisher (tenor) and Julien Van Mallaerts (baritone). The organist was Jeffrey Makinson, and the pianist was Jonathon Gooing. The conductors were Mark Wilde, Susan Hollingworth and Aric Prentice.

Recordings

The first recording, featuring Vishnevskaya, Fischer-Dieskau and Pears, with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Bach Choir conducted by Britten, was produced by Decca in 1963. Within five months of its release it sold 200,000 copies, an unheard-of number for a piece of contemporary classical music at that time. Recording producer John Culshaw reports that Vishnevskaya threw a tantrum during the recording, as she believed – not having performed the work before – she was being insulted by being placed with the choir instead of at the front with the male soloists. The newest (2013) CD reissue of this recording includes 50 minutes of surreptitiously taped rehearsal footage at the time of the recording. Other recordings of the work include the following: * BR Klassik: Emily Magee, Mark Padmore, Christian Gerhaher, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Tölzer Knabenchor; Mariss Jansons, conductor (2013) * Warner Classics: Anna Netrebko, Ian Bostridge, Thomas Hampson; Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Choir and Children's Choir of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Antonio Pappano, conductor (2013) * Signum: Susan Gritton, John Mark Ainsley, Christopher Maltman; Gabrieli Consort & Players; Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir, Gabrieli Young Singers Scheme, Trebles of The Choir of New College Oxford; Paul McCreesh, conductor (2013) * Arthaus Musik (DVD): Erin Wall, Mark Padmore, Hanno Müller-Brachmann;

; City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus; Andris Nelsons, conductor (2012) * LSO Live: Sabina Cvilak, Ian Bostridge, Simon Keenlyside; London Symphony Chorus, Choir of Eltham College, London Symphony Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor (2011) * Challenge Classics: Evelina Dobracheva, Anthony Dean Griffey, Mark Stone (baritone), Mark Stone; Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; Netherlands Radio Choir, Netherlands Children's Choir; Jaap van Zweden, Reinbert de Leeuw conductors (2011) * Decca: Christine Goerke, Anthony Dean Griffey, James Westman; Saito Kinen Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Singers, Ritsuyukai Choir, SKF Matsumoto Choir, SKF Matsumoto Children's Chorus; Seiji Ozawa, conductor (2010) * Hänssler: Annette Dasch, James Taylor (tenor), James Taylor, Christian Gerhaher; Festivalensemble Stuttgart, Aurelius Sängerknaben; Helmuth Rilling, conductor (2007) * LPO: Christine Brewer, Anthony Dean Griffey, Gerald Finley; London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Tiffin Boys' Choir; Kurt Masur, conductor (2005) * Teldec: Carol Vaness, Jerry Hadley, Thomas Hampson (baritone), Thomas Hampson; New York Philharmonic; Westminster Choir, Westminster Symphonic Choir, American Boychoir School, American Boychoir; Kurt Masur, conductor (1997) * Helicon: Edith Wiens, Nigel Robson, Håkan Hagegård; Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Prague Philharmonic Choir, Ankor Children's Choir; Kurt Masur, conductor (1996) * Gothic: Christine Goerke, Richard Clement (tenor), Richard Clement, Richard Stilwell (bass-baritone), Richard Stilwell; The Washington Orchestra and Chorus, Shenandoah Conservatory Choir, Maryland Boys Choir; Robert Shafer (conductor), Robert Shafer, conductor (1995) * Naxos: Lynda Russell, Thomas Randle, Michael Volle; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Scottish Festival Chorus; Martyn Brabbins, conductor (1995) * Klavier: Jeannine Altmeyer, Michael Sells, Douglas Lawrence; William Hall Orchestra and Chorale; William Hall (conductor), William Hall, conductor (1994) * Live Notes: Sue Chen, Akeshi Wakamoto, Kwan-Dong Kim (Chinese, Japanese and Korean); Little Singers of Tokyo, Tokyo Academy Chorus, Tokyo Philharmonic; Kazushi Ono, conductor (1993) * Deutsche Grammophon: Luba Orgonasova, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Boje Skovhus; Monteverdi Choir; Tölzer Knabenchor; NDR Sinfonie-Orchester; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor (1992) * Chandos:

, Philip Langridge, John Shirley-Quirk; London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Choristers of Saint Paul's Cathedral; Richard Hickox, conductor (1991) * Berlin Classics: Kari Løvaas, Anthony Roden, Theo Adam; Dresden Philharmonic; Leipzig Radio Chorus, Dresden Cathedral Boys Choir ; Herbert Kegel, conductor (1989) * Telarc: Lorna Haywood, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Benjamin Luxon; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus; Atlanta Boy Choir; Robert Shaw (conductor), Robert Shaw, conductor (1988) * EMI Classics: Elisabeth Söderström, Robert Tear, Thomas Allen (baritone), Thomas Allen;

; City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, CBSO Chorus; Boys of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford; Sir Simon Rattle, conductor (1983) * BBC Legends: Stefania Woytowicz,

, Hans Wilbrink; New Philharmonia Orchestra,

; New Philharmonia Chorus, Wandsworth School Boys' Choir; Carlo Maria Giulini, Benjamin Britten, conductors (1969) * Cascavelle:

, Thomas Hemsley; Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Radio Suisse Romande Chorus, Choeur Pro Arte de Lausanne; Ernest Ansermet, conductor (1967) * Supraphon: Naděžda Kniplová, Gerald English, John Cameron (singer), John Cameron, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Prague Philharmonic Choir, Kühn Children's Choir; Karel Ančerl, conductor (1966) * VAI (DVD):

, Nicholas Di Virgilio,

;

; Chorus Pro Musica, Columbus Boychoir;

, conductor (1963) * Testament:

;

, Melos Ensemble; Coventry Festival Choir, Boys of Holy Trinity, Leamington and Holy Trinity, Stratford;

, conductors (1962)

Film adaptation

In 1988, the British film director Derek Jarman made a screen adaptation of ''War Requiem'' of War Requiem (film), the same title, with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack, produced by Don Boyd and financed by the BBC. It features the final film performance of Laurence Olivier, in the role of an ageing war veteran.

References

Bibliography

* Cooke, Mervyn ''Britten: War Requiem'' (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. * Culshaw, John ''Putting the Record Straight'' London: Secker & Warburg, 1981. * Macchia, Alessandro, ''Tombeaux. Epicedi per le Grandi Guerre'', Ricordi/Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Milano/Roma, 2005

External links

Text of the ''War Requiem''Britten – Pears Foundation website on the ''War Requiem''
{{Authority control Requiems Compositions by Benjamin Britten Music for orchestra and organ 1962 compositions Requiem Masses Musical settings of poems by Wilfred Owen Songs about World War I United States National Recording Registry recordings Coventry Cathedral