4th Bachchor Concert
Benjamin Britten: »War Requiem« op. 66
Concert
Heiliggeistkirche
Heiliggeistkirche
in cooperation with Heidelberger Studentenkantorei
Soprano
Lea-ann Dunbar
Tenor
Jeremy Ovenden
Bariton
Adrian Eröd
Bachchor Heidelberg
Heidelberger Studentenkantorei
Jugendchor der Musik- und Singschule Heidelberg
Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg
Musical Direction
Benjamin Britten’s »War Requiem« premiered in honour of the inauguration of Coventry Cathedral in 1962. The new building was erected next to the ruin of the old place of worship destroyed during the war. Britten uses this commission to create a milestone in the music of the after-war period. In commemoration of the fallen soldiers, he combines Latin mass texts with poems of the English poet Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) who died during the last days of World War I, aged 25. Britten sets his deeply rooted pacifist and humanitarian convictions to music. In the context of an intensifying East-West Conflict, he composes an opus that calls for worldwide peace, tolerance and understanding.
This concert is kindly supported by Olfert and Dr. Constanze Landt.