The book examines from various viewpoints Britten's War Requiem, written in 1962 to celebrate the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral and uniting the famous anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass. Britten's and Owen's pacifist beliefs are compared, and the chronology of the compositional process unraveled from documentary and manuscript sources. The musical language is analyzed in detail, and the fluctuating critical responses to the score are assessed.
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The book examines Britten's War Requiem, written in 1962 to celebrate the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral and uniting the famous anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass, from various viewpoints. Britten's and Owen's pacifist beliefs are compared, and the chronology of the compositional process unravelled from documentary and manuscript sources. The musical language is analysed in detail, and the fluctuating critical responses to the score are assessed.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another excellent addition to the Cambridge Series,
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This review is from: Britten: War Requiem (Cambridge Music Handbooks) (Paperback)
I have read several of the books in the Cambridge Music Handbooks Series. The purpose of the books in this series is to aid the listener in understanding the theoretical/analytical aspects of the music (such as form, recurring thematic material, growth process, etc.) as well as the historical background of the piece, including critical reaction to the premiere of the work.The book is divided logically into four chapters. The first chapter deals with Britten's pacifist beliefs and how they led to his encounter with the poetry of Wilfred Owen, a soldier who had been killed in World War I. Owen turned out a small body of poetry during the last two years of the war, nine of which Britten chose to use in his Requiem, along with the text for the Latin Mass of the Dead. The second chapter gives the historical background of the piece: commission, composition, and the premiere performance. The third chapter is subtitled "The musical language: idiom and structure." This chapter details the musical content of the piece and how it conforms or deviates from the traditional Requiem formula set up by Mozart and Verdi. This chapter is the "meat" of the book as far as this critic is concerned. In understanding the musical content, one is better equipped to listen with an ear of understanding instead of ignorance. The final chapter reveals the critical reception of the piece, which was extremely positive. Most critics immediately hailed this work as Britten's masterpiece. As the author states, "it is difficult to call to mind any other major twentieth-century work which met with such instantaneous and unanimously high praise from almost all sectors of the media." In conclusion, I can highly recommend this book without hesitation if you are at all interested in the music of the twentieth century. Britten was clearly a brilliant composer; the War Requiem is, arguably, his masterpiece; and this book is a fine tribute to a wonderful piece of music.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
At twelve noon on 11 November 1918, while bands played and bells rang as the crowds gathered to celebrate the Armistice which had just brought the First World War to a close, a telegram arrived at the home of Tom and Susan Owen in Shrewsbury. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
decet hymnus, composition draft, dies irae, baritone soloists, soprano soloist, vocal score, diminished triads Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
War Requiem, Requiem Mass, Billy Budd, Second World War, Wilfred Owen, Ballad of Heroes, Coventry Cathedral, First World War, Aldeburgh Festival, Festival Hall, United Kingdom, Edmund Blunden, John Lowe, Our Hunting Fathers, Peter Pears, Siegfried Sassoon, Verdi's Requiem, William Plomer, Cantata Misericordium, Coventry Festival, Day of Judgement, Heather Harper, Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Evans, Piers Dunkerley New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
At twelve noon on 11 November 1918, while bands played and bells rang as the crowds gathered to celebrate the Armistice which had just brought the First World War to a close, a telegram arrived at the home of Tom and Susan Owen in Shrewsbury. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
decet hymnus, composition draft, dies irae, baritone soloists, soprano soloist, vocal score, diminished triads Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
War Requiem, Requiem Mass, Billy Budd, Second World War, Wilfred Owen, Ballad of Heroes, Coventry Cathedral, First World War, Aldeburgh Festival, Festival Hall, United Kingdom, Edmund Blunden, John Lowe, Our Hunting Fathers, Peter Pears, Siegfried Sassoon, Verdi's Requiem, William Plomer, Cantata Misericordium, Coventry Festival, Day of Judgement, Heather Harper, Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Evans, Piers Dunkerley New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 29
books:
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15
books
cite this book:
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- Britten - War Requiem, Op. 66: The Masterworks Library (Boosey & Hawkes Masterworks Library) by Benjamin Britten on 61 pages
- Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by Donald Mitchell on 7 pages
- Wilfred Owen (0) by Jon Stallworthy in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- On Mahler and Britten: Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on his Seventieth Birthday (Aldeburgh Studies in Music) by Philip Reed in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Ivor Gurney: Towards a Bibliography by R.K.R. Thornton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 29 books this book cites
- Willa Cather and Others (Series Q) by Jonathan Goldberg in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Bach: Mass in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by John Butt in Front Matter
- Berg: Violin Concerto (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by Anthony Pople in Front Matter
- Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by David Lee Brodbeck in Front Matter
- Monteverdi: Vespers (1610) (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by John Whenham in Front Matter
See all 15 books citing this book
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