Britten's Choral Masterpiece

Widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest choral works, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem is a passionate outcry against the brutalities of war and man's inhumane treatment of fellow man. Still shockingly pertinent in today's global climate, experience its soul-stirring marriage of music and poetry during Columbus Symphony Orchestra's concert of the ambitious epic, led by conductor Rossen Milanov with soprano Abigail Resthwich, tenor Jonathan Burton, baritone Andrew Garland, and the Columbus Symphony Chorus and Children's Chorus.

Completed in 1962 for the consecration of the UK's Coventry Cathedral, which was rebuilt in the wake of a WWII bombing raid, the requiem juxtaposes the traditional text of the Latin Mass for the Dead with nine war poems by English poet and soldier Wilfred Owen, who was killed before the war's end. Truly epic in scope, the thought-provoking piece utilises a chamber orchestra arrangement to underpin the poems, whilst the choirs, singers and full orchestra give gravitas to the mass. All the sections come together in its finale for a rousing and thought-provoking hymn to the fallen.