War Requiem

During World War I, British soldier Owen is mortified by the examples of cruelty that surround him in the trenches. He combats these terrifying images by maintaining hope in his love for an army nurse. But he also begins to accept his fate as another battlefield sacrifice.

With the Russian soprano Irina Lungu, the British tenor Allan Clayton and the German baritone Matthias Goerne, a star cast has been found that ties in with the history of the work in a special way: Benjamin Britten composed his War Requiem as a work of mourning and remembrance of the war dead and wanted the soloists to be members of the countries that had previously been enemies in the war. The premiere took place in 1962 in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, whose previous building had been destroyed by German bombing. The text was based on the Latin text of the Missa pro Defunctis and poems by Wilfred Owen, one of the most important literary witnesses to the horrors of the First World War.

First transmitted in 1964, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem is performed at the Royal Albert Hall. The Melos Ensemble is conducted by Benjamin Britten, and the performers include Heather Harper (soprano), Peter Pears (tenor), Thomas Hemsley (baritone) and Simon Preston (organ and chamber organ). Also featured are the BBC Chorus and Choral Society, Boys from Emanuel School, London Philharmonic Choir, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Pink Floyd released a 19-minute "video EP" in 1983 for The Final Cut, essentially four music videos in a continuous sequence, directed by Willie Christie, who was Roger Waters' brother-in-law. Scottish actor Alex McAvoy, who played the teacher in the film version of The Wall, had a prominent role in the video EP. Waters appears (though all but his mouth is silhouetted) as a patient singing the lyrics to a psychologist on the grounds of the Fletcher Memorial Home.