The War Requiem is made up of the traditional Latin text, and nine English Poems. The work is set for Soprano, Tenor and Baritone Soloists, Full Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Chorus, Boys’ Choir and Organ. These forces are divided into three groups: The Soprano Soloist sings Latin text, accompanied by the Chorus and Full Orchestra, the Tenor and Baritone Soloists sing Wilfred Owen’s English text, accompanied by the chamber orchestra, and the Boys’ Choir sing Latin text accompanied by Organ. It is only at the end of the final movement, that all three groups come together.
The premier took place on the 30th of May 1962. The Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya was supposed to sing the premier, but due to International tensions, the Soviet Union did not permit her to travel. The soprano Heather Harper stood in with ten days’ notice, Peter Pears sung the tenor and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau the baritone. Britten had planned to conduct, but unfortunately, he was suffering from shoulder pain, so Meredith Davies stepped in. Not wanting to miss this monumental event, Britten chose to conduct the Tenor, Baritone and Chamber Orchestra group, thus starting an unintentional tradition of having two conductors. On Britten’s request, there was no applause at the end of the premier. The work was a huge success, and remains one of the most important Requiem settings to this day.
