Britten: War Requiem

Show & Culture

This phrase from the poet Wilfred Owen, whose verses appear alongside the Latin text of the Mass for the Dead, is used by the pacifist Benjamin Britten to describe his moving War Requiem. This monumental work, composed in 1962 for the reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral and performed for the first time at the Philharmonie, brings together—as the composer wished, as a symbol of unity—a Russian soprano Irina Lungu, a British tenor Andrew Staples, and a German baritone Christian Gerhaher.