Britten: War Requiem (Cambridge Music Handbooks)

Cambridge Music Handbooks

by Cooke

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.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 1996

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatly deepened my appreciation of a musical work that I was struggling to connect with. I’d consider it practically required reading for anyone performing the piece.