The
War Requiem,
Op. 66, is a large-scale, non-
liturgical setting of the
Requiem composed by
Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The
War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new
Coventry Cathedral, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was
destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The traditional Latin texts are interspersed, in telling juxtaposition, with settings of poems by
Wilfred Owen, written in World War I. The work is scored for
soprano,
tenor and
baritone soloists,
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 90 minutes.