View source for War Requiem

{{Short description|Composition by Benjamin Britten}}
{{For|the film adaptation of this work|War Requiem (film){{!}}''War Requiem'' (film)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = ''War Requiem''
| type                = 
| image               = Coventry Cathedral Interior, West Midlands, UK - Diliff.jpg
| image_upright       = 1.2
| caption             = Interior of the new [[Coventry Cathedral]], where the Requiem was first performed
| composer            = [[Benjamin Britten]]
| opus                = 66
| occasion            = Consecration of the new [[Coventry Cathedral]]
| dedication          = {{plainlist|
* Roger Burney
* Piers Dunkerley
* David Gill
* Michael Halliday
}}
| text                = {{plainlist|
* [[Music for the Requiem Mass#Common texts|Requiem]]
* Poems by [[Wilfred Owen]]
}}
| language            = {{hlist| Latin | English }}
| composed            = {{start date|1961}}–1962
| performed           = {{start date|1962|05|30|df=y}}
| published           = 
| scoring             = {{hlist | soprano | tenor | baritone | mixed choir | boys' choir | organ | orchestra | chamber orchestra }}
}}
The '''''War Requiem''''', [[Opus number|Op.]] 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by [[Benjamin Britten]], composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962.<ref>{{harvc|author=Philip Reed|chapter=The War Requiem in Progress|in=Cooke|year=1996}}</ref> The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new [[Coventry Cathedral]], in the English county of [[Warwickshire]], which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was [[Coventry Blitz|destroyed in a World War II bombing raid]]. The traditional [[Music for the Requiem Mass#Common texts|Latin texts]] are interspersed, in telling [[juxtaposition]], with extra-liturgical poems by [[Wilfred Owen]], written during [[World War I]].

Britten scored the work for [[soprano]], [[tenor]] and [[baritone]] soloists, [[choir|chorus]], boys' choir, organ, and two orchestras (a full orchestra and a [[chamber orchestra]]). 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, Britten's 1963 recording of the ''War Requiem'' was selected by the [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in the [[National Recording Registry]] for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{cite news |last=Andrews |first=Travis M. |date=20 March 2019 |title=Jay-Z, a speech by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and 'Schoolhouse Rock!' among recordings deemed classics by Library of Congress |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jay-z-a-speech-by-sen-robert-f-kennedy-and-schoolhouse-rock-among-recordings-deemed-classics-by-library-of-congress/2019/03/19/f7eb08ea-4a58-11e9-9663-00ac73f49662_story.html? |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=25 March 2019 |archive-date=25 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325142004/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jay-z-a-speech-by-sen-robert-f-kennedy-and-schoolhouse-rock-among-recordings-deemed-classics-by-library-of-congress/2019/03/19/f7eb08ea-4a58-11e9-9663-00ac73f49662_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Composition==
The ''War Requiem'', first performed on 30 May 1962, was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new [[Coventry Cathedral]], which was built after the original 14th-century structure was [[Coventry Blitz|destroyed in a World War II bombing raid]]. The reconsecration was an occasion for an arts festival, for which [[Michael Tippett]] also wrote his opera ''[[King Priam]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/britwar.html |access-date=3 August 2013 |publisher=Caltech |title=Purpose |archive-date=6 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806201352/http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/britwar.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Britten, a [[pacifism|pacifist]] and [[conscientious objector]], was inspired by the commission, which gave him complete freedom in deciding what to compose. He chose to set the traditional [[Requiem|Latin Mass for the Dead]] interwoven with nine poems about war by the English poet [[Wilfred Owen]]. 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 of 11 November 1918|Armistice]]. 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]]s.

Philip Reed has discussed the progression of Britten's composition of the ''War Requiem'' in the Cambridge Music Handbook publication on the work.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=737454 | last=Evans | first=Peter | title=Review of ''Britten: "War Requiem"'' (Cambridge Music Handbook series), by Mervyn Cooke | journal=[[Music & Letters]]| volume=78 | issue=3 | pages=466–468 |date=August 1997| doi=10.1093/ml/78.3.466 }}</ref> Britten himself acknowledged the stylistic influence of Requiems by other composers, such as [[Requiem (Verdi)|Giuseppe Verdi]]'s, on his own composition.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/jul/18/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures | title=In his own words |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=UK | author=Paul Kildea | author-link=Paul Kildea | date=18 July 2003 | access-date=10 May 2008 | archive-date=12 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512151956/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,999907,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref>  David B. Greene has discussed Britten's 'indictment' of religious music in this work.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=41178932 | last=Greene | first=David B. | title=Britten's ''War Requiem'': The End of Religious Music | journal=Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal | volume=83 | issue=1 | pages=89–100 | date=Spring 2000}}</ref>

Britten dedicated the work to Roger Burney, [[Britten's Children|Piers Dunkerley]], David Gill, and Michael Halliday. Burney and Halliday, who died in the war, were friends of [[Peter Pears]] 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]]. Unlike the other dedicatees, he survived the war but took his own life in June 1959, two months before his wedding. None of the other dedicatees have known graves, but are commemorated on memorials to the missing.<ref>[http://www.warrequiem.org/dedicatees.html "Dedicatees"]  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129022246/http://www.warrequiem.org/dedicatees.html |date=29 November 2014 }}. Britten–Pears Foundation ''War Requiem'' web site. Retrieved 14 November 2014. Further details of the war service of [http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2368859 Burney] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123071606/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2368859 |date=23 January 2019 }}, [http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2467728 Gill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123071638/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2467728 |date=23 January 2019 }} and [http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2563938 Halliday] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123071531/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2563938 |date=23 January 2019 }} are available on the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] website.</ref>

==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 portative 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 [[Music for the Requiem Mass#Common texts|Latin Requiem text]], while the tenor and baritone sing poems by [[Wilfred Owen]], interspersed throughout.

The full orchestra consists of the following instrumentation.

{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
'''Woodwinds'''
:3 flutes (third doubling [[piccolo]])
:2 oboes
:1 [[cor anglais|English horn]]
:{{Hanging indent |3 clarinets (third doubling [[E-flat clarinet|E{{music|flat}} clarinet]] and [[bass clarinet]])}}
:2 bassoons
:1 [[contrabassoon]]
'''[[Brass instrument|Brass]]'''
:6 [[French horn|horns]]
:4 trumpets in C
:3 trombones
:1 tuba
{{col-3}}
'''Percussion'''
:[[timpani]]

:4 players:
::2 [[crotales|antique cymbals]] (C & F{{music|sharp}})
::[[glockenspiel]]
::[[gong]]
::[[tubular bells|bells]] (C & F{{music|sharp}})
::[[vibraphone]]
::[[cymbal]]s
::[[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]]
::[[castanets]]
::[[wooden fish|Chinese blocks]]
::[[whip (instrument)|whip]]
::[[bass drum]]
::2 [[snare drum|side drums]]
::[[tambourine]]
::[[tenor drum]]
{{col-3}}
'''Keyboard'''
:piano
:[[positive organ]] or [[Pump organ|harmonium]]
:grand organ (''Libera Me'' only)
'''[[string section|Strings]]'''
: first violins
: second violins
: violas
: [[cello|violoncello]]s
: double basses
{{col-end}}
The chamber orchestra consists of the following instrumentation.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
'''Woodwinds'''
:flute (doubling [[piccolo]])
:oboe (doubling [[English horn]])
:clarinet (in B{{music|flat}} and A)
:bassoon

'''Brass'''
:[[French horn|horn]]
{{col-3}}
'''Percussion'''
:[[timpani]]
:[[gong]]
:[[cymbal]]s
:[[bass drum]]
:[[side drum]]
{{col-3}}
'''Strings'''
:[[harp]]

:2 violins
:viola
:[[cello|violoncello]]
:double bass
{{col-end}}

==Movements and structure==
The work consists of six movements:

{{Ordered list|type=upper-roman|Requiem aeternam (10 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha|''Requiem aeternam'' (chorus and boys' choir)
| "What passing bells" (tenor solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems%20by%20Wilfred%20Owen/Anthem%20for%20Doomed%20Youth "Anthem for Doomed Youth"]
| ''Kyrie eleison'' (chorus)
}}
| Dies irae (27 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha|''Dies irae'' (chorus)
| "Bugles sang" (baritone solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/But_I_was_Looking_at_the_Permanent_Stars "But I was Looking at the Permanent Stars"]
| ''Liber scriptus'' (soprano solo and semi-chorus)
| "Out there, we walked quite friendly up to death" (tenor and baritone soli)&nbsp;– Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Next_War_(Owen) "The Next War"]
| ''Recordare'' (women's chorus)
| ''Confutatis'' (men's chorus)
| "Be slowly lifted up" (baritone solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sonnet_On_Seeing_a_Piece_of_our_Heavy_Artillery_Brought_into_Action "Sonnet On Seeing a Piece of our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action"]
| Reprise of ''Dies irae'' (chorus)
| ''Lacrimosa'' (soprano and chorus) interspersed with "Move him, move him" (tenor solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_by_Wilfred_Owen/Futility "Futility"]
}}
| Offertorium (10 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha|''Domine Jesu Christe'' (boys' choir)
| ''Sed signifer sanctus'' (chorus)
| ''Quam olim Abrahae'' (chorus)
| ''Isaac and Abram'' (tenor and baritone soli)&nbsp;– Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_by_Wilfred_Owen/Parable_of_the_Old_Men_and_the_Young "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young"]
| ''Hostias et preces tibi'' (boys' choir)
| Reprise of ''Quam olim Abrahae'' (chorus)
}}
|Sanctus (10 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha|''Sanctus'' and ''Benedictus'' (soprano solo and chorus)
| "After the blast of lightning" (baritone solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_End_(Owen) "The End"]
}}
| Agnus Dei (4 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha| ''Agnus Dei'' (chorus) interspersed with "One ever hangs" (chorus; tenor solo) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/At_a_Calvary_near_the_Ancre "At a Calvary near the Ancre"]
}}
| Libera me (23 minutes)
{{Ordered list|type=lower-alpha|''Libera me'' (grand organ, soprano solo and chorus)
| ''Strange Meeting'' ("It seemed that out of battle I escaped") (tenor and baritone soli) – Owen's [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_by_Wilfred_Owen/Strange_Meeting "Strange Meeting"]
| ''In paradisum'' (organ, boys' chorus, soprano and mixed chorus)
| Conclusion – ''Requiem Aeternam'' and ''Requiescant in Pace'' (organ, boys' choir and mixed chorus)
}}
}}

==Musical analysis==
[[File:Benjamin_Britten,_London_Records_1968_publicity_photo_for_Wikipedia_(restored).jpg|thumb|Britten in 1968, by [[Hans Wild]]]]
The [[interval (music)|interval]] of a [[tritone]] between C and F{{music|sharp}} is a recurring [[motif (music)|motif]], the occurrence of which unifies the entire work.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/sep/22/benjamin-britten-war-requiem | title=War and the pity of war |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|author=[[Ian Bostridge]]| date=2011-09-22 | access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref> The interval is used both in contexts that emphasize the harmonic distance between C and F{{music|sharp}} and those that resolve them harmonically, mirroring the theme of conflict and reconciliation present throughout the work.<ref>[[Arnold Whittall]], ''The Music of Britten and Tippett'', Cambridge University Press, 1982 ({{ISBN|0-521-38501-6}}).</ref> 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 [[Consonance and dissonance|discord]], with every last (''i.&nbsp;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]] from C to G before moving down to F{{music|sharp}} 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]]. At the end of the poem, the final string chord resolves to the [[tonic (music)|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{{music|sharp}} sung in one voice, but the C in another.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/jun/21/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures | title=Come let us mumble |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=UK |author=[[Michael Berkeley]]| date=21 June 2003 }}</ref>

Four other motifs that usually occur together are distinct brass [[fanfare]]s of the ''Dies irae'': a rising [[arpeggio]], 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 [[Offertory|Offertorium]], a [[fugue]] in the repeating three-part-time scheme {{music|time|6|8}}, {{music|time|9|8}}, {{music|time|6|8}} where the choir sings of God's promise to [[Abraham]] ("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]], in which the angel tells Abraham to:

{{blockquote|<poem>'... offer the ram of pride instead of him.'
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
and half the seed of Europe, one by one.</poem>}}

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 "[[Wikisource:Strange Meeting|Strange Meeting]]" ("Let us sleep now&nbsp;...") as "In Paradisum deducant" ("Into Paradise lead them&nbsp;...") 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 notable performances==
===Premiere===
For the opening performance, Britten intended that the soloists should be [[Galina Vishnevskaya]] (a Russian), [[Peter Pears]] (an Englishman) and [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,178263,00.html | title=Golden cords |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=UK | author=Stephen Moss | date=31 March 2000 | access-date=18 December 2016 | archive-date=6 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306145513/http://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,178263,00.Html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/may/20/classicalmusicandopera2 | title=It is the start of the final episode |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=UK |author=[[Martin Kettle]]| date=20 May 2005 | access-date=18 May 2007 | archive-date=11 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511093143/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1487614,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> (a German), to demonstrate a spirit of unity. Close to the premiere, the Soviet authorities did not permit Vishnevskaya to travel to Coventry for the event,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/08a29326-8fc4-11e1-beaa-00144feab49a.html#axzz1u57BU24A |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221205/https://www.ft.com/content/08a29326-8fc4-11e1-beaa-00144feab49a#axzz1u57BU24A |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Battle of Britten |date=5 May 2012 |newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|author=Richard Fairman |access-date=6 May 2012 }}</ref> although she was later permitted to leave to make the recording in London. With only ten days' notice, [[Heather Harper]] stepped in and performed the soprano role.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/brittens-war-requiem-the-story-of-how-britten-came-to-compose-his-most-famous-piece | title=Britten's War Requiem: the story of how Britten came to compose his most famous piece | work=BBC Music Magazine (Classical Music.com) | author=Michael White | date=2024-02-21 | access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>

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.<ref>Reed, Philip & Cooke, Mervyn (eds). ''Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten: Vol. 5, 1958–1965''. Boydell Press, 2010: p. 335.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Paul Kildea]], ''Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century'', p. 458</ref> The premiere took place on 30 May 1962, in the rebuilt cathedral with the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Meredith Davies]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/mar/30/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries | title=Obituary for Meredith Davies |work=The Guardian |location=UK | author=Philip Reed | date=30 March 2005 }}</ref> (accompanying soprano and chorus), and the [[Melos Ensemble]], conducted by the composer (accompanying tenor and baritone).<ref>[http://www.brittenpears.org/?page=britten/works/requiem.html#first Britten–Pears Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194647/http://www.brittenpears.org/?page=britten%2Fworks%2Frequiem.html#first |date=23 September 2015 }} first performance</ref> At Britten's request, there was no applause following the performance.<ref>See souvenir programme of the 1962 Coventry Cathedral Festival and Michael Foster: "The Idea Was Good&nbsp;– the story of Britten's War Requiem" pub. Coventry Cathedral Books 2012</ref> It was a triumph, and critics and audiences at this and subsequent performances in London and abroad hailed it as a contemporary masterpiece.<ref>See Peter Evans "Britten since the War Requiem" in ''Listener'', 28 May 1964: cited in {{harvnb|Cooke|1996|p=79}}</ref> 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:

{{blockquote|<poem>My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity...
All a poet can do today is warn.</poem>}}

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 at the [[Wellington Town Hall|Town Hall]] in Wellington, New Zealand, with [[John Hopkins (conductor)|John Hopkins]] conducting the New Zealand National Orchestra (now the [[New Zealand Symphony Orchestra]]) and the [[Christchurch City Choir|Royal Christchurch Musical Society]], with soloists [[Peter Baillie (tenor)|Peter Baillie]], Graeme Gorton and Angela Shaw.<ref>{{Cite news |author=F. P. |date=29 June 1963|title=''War Requiem'' a Moving Experience |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19630729.2.147 |access-date=8 June 2024 |newspaper=[[The Press]]|location=Christchurch, New Zealand|page=14|volume=CII |issue=30195}}</ref> The North American premiere was at [[Tanglewood]], with [[Erich Leinsdorf]] conducting the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] with soloists [[Phyllis Curtin]], Nicholas Di Virgilio, [[Tom Krause]] and choruses from Chorus pro Musica and the [[Columbus Boychoir]], featuring boy soprano Thomas Friedman.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/XLIX/4/510 | last=Lang | first=Paul Henry | title=Current Chronicle: Lenox, Massachusetts | journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]| volume=49 | issue=4 | pages=510–517 |date=October 1963| doi=10.1093/mq/XLIX.4.510| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Dutch premiere took place during the [[Holland Festival]], in 1964. The [[Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra|Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam]] 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.

===Other notable performances===
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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.classicfm.com/composers/britten/news/war-requiem-concert-broadcast-classic-fm/|title=War Requiem concert broadcast on Classic FM|website=Classic FM|access-date=2018-04-12|archive-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043050/http://www.classicfm.com/composers/britten/news/war-requiem-concert-broadcast-classic-fm/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 Coventry Cathedral Girls' Choir. It was conducted by Simon Over and Paul Leddington Wright.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://parliamentchoir.org.uk/sites/parliamentchoir.org.uk/files/Flyer-for-War-Requiem-Coventry2.pdf|title=Flyer for War Requiem Coventry 13 November 2010|website=Parliament Choir|access-date=2018-04-10|archive-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043133/http://parliamentchoir.org.uk/sites/parliamentchoir.org.uk/files/Flyer-for-War-Requiem-Coventry2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> A recording was made and broadcast a day later on [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.classicfm.com/composers/britten/news/war-requiem-concert-broadcast-classic-fm/|title=War Requiem concert broadcast on Classic FM|website=Parliament Choir|access-date=2018-04-12|archive-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043050/http://www.classicfm.com/composers/britten/news/war-requiem-concert-broadcast-classic-fm/|url-status=live}}</ref> A second performance with the same performers took place on 17 November 2010 at Westminster Cathedral.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://parliamentchoir.org.uk/sites/parliamentchoir.org.uk/files/Flyer-for-War-Requiem-Nov10.pdf|title=Flyer for War Requiem 17 November 2010|access-date=2018-04-12|archive-date=12 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412212129/http://parliamentchoir.org.uk/sites/parliamentchoir.org.uk/files/Flyer-for-War-Requiem-Nov10.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 50th anniversary performance was given by the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Andris Nelsons]] at Coventry Cathedral on 30 May 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbso.co.uk/?page=concerts/viewConcert.html&cid=2386&m=05&y=2012|title=50th Anniversary Performance: Britten's War Requiem|date=30 May 2012|publisher=[[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304170918/http://www.cbso.co.uk/?page=concerts%2FviewConcert.html&cid=2386&m=05&y=2012|archive-date=4 March 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wellman|first=Ed|date=23 July 2020|title=Lincolnshire Remembers – ''War Requiem'', Benjamin Britten|url=https://www.sirenonline.co.uk/archives/59336|website=Siren Online}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Recordings==
{{main|Britten's War Requiem (1963 recording)}}
{{Infobox album|
| name         = War Requiem
| type         = Album
| artist       = [[Benjamin Britten]]
| cover        = 
| alt          = 
| released     = 1963
| recorded     = 1963
| venue        = 
| studio       = 
| genre        = Classical
| length       = 1:31:24
| label        = [[Decca Records]]
| producer     = [[John Culshaw]]
| prev_title   = Sonata for Cello and Piano
| prev_year    = 1961
| next_title   = Psalm CL
| next_year    = 1962
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=c40645|title=''War Requiem''|author=Blair Johnston}}</ref>
| noprose = yes
}}
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.<ref>[[Humphrey Carpenter|Carpenter, Humphrey]]. ''Benjamin Britten: A Biography''. London: Faber and Faber, 1992: p. 411.</ref> Recording producer [[John Culshaw]] reports that Vishnevskaya threw a tantrum during the recording, as she believed&nbsp;– not having performed the work before&nbsp;– she was being insulted by being placed with the choir instead of at the front with the male soloists.<ref>{{cite book|last=Culshaw|first=John|author-link=John Culshaw|title=Putting the Record Straight|location=London|publisher=Secker & Warburg|year=1981|isbn=0-436-11802-5|pages=312–313}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/galina-vishnevskaya-soprano-whose-voice-entranced-britten-and-who-fled-the-soviet-union-8422888.html|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|last=Humphreys|first=Garry|date=18 December 2012|title=Galina Vishnevskaya|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=14 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114205748/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/galina-vishnevskaya-soprano-whose-voice-entranced-britten-and-who-fled-the-soviet-union-8422888.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The newest (2013) CD reissue of this recording includes 50 minutes of surreptitiously taped rehearsal footage at the time of the recording.

Other recordings<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,296408,00.html | title=Keynotes | work=The Guardian | location=UK | author=Andrew Clements | date=23 April 1999 | access-date=18 December 2016 | archive-date=6 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306104357/http://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,296408,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> of the work include the following:
* Testament: [[Heather Harper]], [[Peter Pears]], [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]]; [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]], Melos Ensemble; Coventry Festival Choir, Boys of Holy Trinity, Leamington and Holy Trinity, Stratford; [[Benjamin Britten]], [[Meredith Davies]], conductors (1962; recording of the premiere)
* VAI (DVD): [[Phyllis Curtin]], Nicholas Di Virgilio, [[Tom Krause]]; [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]; Chorus Pro Musica, Columbus Boychoir; [[Erich Leinsdorf]], conductor (1963)
* Supraphon: [[Naděžda Kniplová]], [[Gerald English]], [[John Cameron (baritone)|John Cameron]], [[Czech Philharmonic]] Orchestra; Prague Philharmonic Choir, Kühn Children's Choir; [[Karel Ančerl]], conductor (1966)
* Cascavelle: [[Heather Harper]], [[Peter Pears]], [[Thomas Hemsley]]; [[Orchestre de la Suisse Romande]], Radio Suisse Romande Chorus, Choeur Pro Arte de Lausanne; [[Ernest Ansermet]], conductor (1967)
* BBC Legends: Stefania Woytowicz, [[Peter Pears]], Hans Wilbrink; New [[Philharmonia Orchestra]], [[Melos Ensemble]]; New Philharmonia Chorus, [[Wandsworth School Boys' Choir]]; [[Carlo Maria Giulini]], Benjamin Britten, conductors (1969)
* EMI Classics: [[Elisabeth Söderström]], [[Robert Tear]], [[Thomas Allen (baritone)|Thomas Allen]]; [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]]; [[City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus|CBSO Chorus]]; Boys of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford; Sir [[Simon Rattle]], conductor (1983)
* Telarc: Lorna Haywood, [[Anthony Rolfe Johnson]], [[Benjamin Luxon]]; [[Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus]]; [[Atlanta Boy Choir]]; [[Robert Shaw (conductor)|Robert Shaw]], conductor (1988)
* Berlin Classics: [[Kari Løvaas]], Anthony Roden, [[Theo Adam]]; [[Dresden Philharmonic]]; Leipzig Radio Chorus, Dresden Cathedral Boys Choir; [[Herbert Kegel]], conductor (1989)
* Chandos: [[Heather Harper]], [[Philip Langridge]], [[John Shirley-Quirk]]; [[London Symphony Orchestra]] and Chorus; Choristers of Saint Paul's Cathedral; [[Richard Hickox]], conductor (1991)
* Deutsche Grammophon: [[Ľuba Orgonášová]], [[Anthony Rolfe Johnson]], [[Boje Skovhus]]; [[Monteverdi Choir]]; [[Tölzer Knabenchor]]; [[NDR Sinfonie-Orchester]]; [[John Eliot Gardiner]], conductor (1992)
* Live Notes: Sue Chen, Akeshi Wakamoto, Kwan-Dong Kim; Little Singers of Tokyo, Tokyo Academy Chorus, [[Tokyo Philharmonic]]; [[Kazushi Ono]], conductor (1993)
* Klavier: Jeannine Altmeyer, Michael Sells, Douglas Lawrence; William Hall Orchestra and Chorale; William Hall, conductor (1994)
* Naxos: Lynda Russell, Thomas Randle, [[Michael Volle]]; [[BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra]]; Scottish Festival Chorus; [[Martyn Brabbins]], conductor (1995)
* Gothic: [[Christine Goerke]], 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)
* Helicon: Edith Wiens, Nigel Robson, [[Håkan Hagegård]]; [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]]; Prague Philharmonic Choir, Ankor Children's Choir; [[Kurt Masur]], conductor (1996)
* Teldec: [[Carol Vaness]], [[Jerry Hadley]], [[Thomas Hampson]]; [[New York Philharmonic]]; [[Westminster Choir|Westminster Symphonic Choir]], [[American Boychoir School|American Boychoir]]; [[Kurt Masur]], conductor (1997)
* LPO: [[Christine Brewer]], [[Anthony Dean Griffey]], [[Gerald Finley]]; [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] and Choir, Tiffin Boys' Choir; [[Kurt Masur]], conductor (2005)
* Hänssler: [[Annette Dasch]], [[James Taylor (tenor)|James Taylor]], [[Christian Gerhaher]]; Festivalensemble Stuttgart, Aurelius Sängerknaben; [[Helmuth Rilling]], conductor (2007) 
* 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)
* 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)
* Arthaus Musik (DVD): [[Erin Wall]], [[Mark Padmore]], [[Hanno Müller-Brachmann]]; [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]]; [[CBSO Chorus]], [[CBSO Youth Chorus]]; [[Andris Nelsons]], conductor (2012)
* BR Klassik: [[Emily Magee]], [[Mark Padmore]], [[Christian Gerhaher]], [[Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra]] and Choir, [[Tölzer Knabenchor]]; [[Mariss Jansons]], 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)
* 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)
* [[Munich Philharmonic]]: Anna Samuil, [[Toby Spence]], Hanno Müller-Brachmann; Munich Philharmonic, Tölzer Knabenchor, Philharmonischer Chor München; [[Lorin Maazel]], conductor (2017)

==Film adaptation==
In 1988, [[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 includes the final film performance of [[Laurence Olivier]], in the role of an ageing war veteran.

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|last=Cooke|first=Mervyn|title=Britten: War Requiem|series=Cambridge Music Handbooks|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-521-44633-3}}

==Further reading==
* Macchia, Alessandro, ''Tombeaux. Epicedi per le Grandi Guerre'', Ricordi/Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Milano/Roma, 2005 {{ISBN|88-7592-804-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |author-link=Martha Nussbaum |year=2024 |title=The Tenderness of Silent Minds: Benjamin Britten and his War Requiem |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-756853-8|ref=none}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/reqtext.html Text of the ''War Requiem'']

{{Benjamin Britten|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Requiem Masses|Britten]]
[[Category:Choral compositions by Benjamin Britten]]
[[Category:Music for orchestra and organ]]
[[Category:1962 compositions]]
[[Category:Musical settings of poems by Wilfred Owen]]
[[Category:Songs about World War I]]
[[Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings]]
[[Category:Coventry Cathedral]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to family or friends]]