Benjamin Britten composed his War Requiem for the consecration of Edinburgh-educated Sir Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral in 1962 following the near total destruction of its predecessor by Luftwaffe bombs dropped in November 1940.
A scan of the programme to see who was in the orchestra was disturbing because quite a number of the senior players seemed to be having a night off. But it was not so. Twelve of them had been creamed off to be a separate chamber orchestra. There they were on stage in a group and surrounded by the main orchestra. Stéphane Denève conducted them turn about.
The role of the chamber orchestra was to accompany the two killed soldiers, one British the other German, and sung by the highly acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge and baritone Audun Iversen. They sung English texts written by Wilfred Owen, himself killed in the final week of the Great War, after spending time recuperating here at Craiglockhart in the hospital for shell-shocked officers.
Intertwined were the Latin texts of the Requiem Mass sung by the soprano Marina Rebeka, the bulk of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, its large and impressive Chorus and its Junior Chorus.
The role of the Junior Chorus was to be the Boys’ Choir of a cathedral and they were out of sight. I had wondered why there was a music stand with a full score propped on it in the Grand Circle’s foyer. Once we were in our seats the juniors must have moved into place for this was where they sung so effectively. On stage for the final bow I think they were all young ladies.
When the Mass reached the Sanctus the composer, Benjamin Britten, had divided the large chorus into eight parts which for a while were singing disparately. For me this was the musical highlight. After the Agnus Dei John Kitchen was at the organ as everybody came together. The baritone sung the poignant words to the tenor ‘I am the enemy you killed, my friend’.
This large scale performance which involved so many talented musicians was a triumph but in the tenderly moving requiem the dead we remembered were the stars. The audience had indeed followed Frikkie Walker’s advice in his exemplary pre-concert talk that we should all climb inside. Benjamin Britten’s brilliance was staring us in the face.
Event: Friday 30 April 2010, 7.30 pm