War Requiem

In the organizer's words:

MUSIC THEATER

Theater am Goetheplatz

Oratorio by Benjamin Britten
Texts from the "Missa pro defunctis" and from poems by Wilfred Owen
In English and Latin with German overtext
Musical direction: Stefan Klingele
Direction: Frank Hilbrich

This powerful composition for orchestra, choir, three vocal soloists and organ begins darkly and abysmally. The composition was commissioned by the city of Coventry, which was reduced to rubble in a hail of German bombs on November 14, 1940. Britten was chosen to compose the music for the inauguration celebrations to mark the reconstruction of the destroyed Gothic cathedral. As a convinced pacifist, he had always abhorred any act of destruction: "I simply don't believe in power and violence. All a poet can do is warn." Britten prefaced his composition with this quote from the lyricist Wilfred Owen, who died in the First World War. The timelessly topical plea for peace and humanity is a requiem, an indictment and a warning. And yet - according to director Frank Hilbrich - it gives hope and comfort and is an occasion to pause and reflect on our common civilizational values, which must be defended.

Supported by the Bremer Theaterfreunde. Presented by Bremen Zwei.