This concert is an opportunity to hear one of the most defining works of the 20th century. Completed in January 1962, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in Warwickshire, England, which was built after the original 14th-century structure was destroyed in a bombing raid during the Second World War. Composed for soprano, tenor and baritone, adult and children’s choirs, organ and two orchestras (one full and one chamber), this is a large-scale work that embodies Benjamin Britten’s pacifist and humanitarian beliefs.
Britten intersperses the traditional setting of the Requiem Mass with poems by Wilfred Owen, one of the greatest poets of the First World War. Owen was killed in action seven days before the Armistice, and this further emphasised the composer’s central theme – the criminal waste of human life in futile conflict. Britten uses nine of Owen’s poems to form a kind of song cycle that weaves in and out of the formal sections of the Latin Mass, resulting in subtle and powerful contrasts and ironies. A chamber orchestra accompanies the intimate settings of the English poetry, while soprano, choirs and orchestra are used for the Mass sections. The result is one of the most moving and personal works of modern times, considered by many to be Britten’s masterpiece in the non-operatic sphere.
A number of forces come together to perform the work: in addition to the Municipal Symphony, the Lírico and Paulistano choirs will be conducted by maestro Roberto Minczuk.