Britten's War Requiem

CLASSICAL MUSIC / Non-liturgical

War Requiem, Op. 66, composed by English composer Benjamin Britten.

This work by Benjamin Britten is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. It was first performed on 30th May 1962, for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was destroyed in World War II. The traditional Latin texts are interspersed, in telling juxtaposition, with settings of poems by Wilfred Owen, written in World War I.

Britten's War Requiem is scored for soprano, tenor and baritone soloists, chorus, boys' choir, organ and and two orchestras (a full orchestra and a chamber orcchestra.) 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 music finale. The work has a duration of approximately 90 minutes.



Notes about the Video:  

Benjamin Britten, Conductor
Meredith Davies, Conductor
Heather Harper, Soprano
Thomas Hemsley, Baritone
Peter Pears, Tenor
With Melos Ensemble, BBC Symphony Chorus & BBC Symphony Orchestra
August 4, 1964


Other Britten War Requiem Performances: 

1.  War Requiem conducted by Marin Alsop, Nov 2014, Southbank Centre.    
2.  War Requiem, Salzburg Festival, 2013.


Video Credit:

Benjamin Britten Conducts War Requiem. YouTube, uploaded by John Randolph. Accessed May 30, 2017.

Resource:

Britten's War Requiem. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed May 30, 2017. 


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