War Requiem 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 80-85 minutes. The "War Requiem", first performed on 30 May 1962, was commissioned to mark 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 reconsecration was an occasion for an arts festival, for which Michael Tippett also wrote his opera "King Priam". Britten, a pacifist, was inspired by
County of the City of Coventry county corporate status enabled Coventry to control its own assize and gaol, and the city's bailiffs became sheriffs – officers to the king. Coventry remained separate from the rest of Warwickshire until disputes over ratings with the villages which formed the county resulted in its abolition by the Coventry Act 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c.110). The Act provided that from 9 November 1842 the "City and County of the City of Coventry shall... be taken to be in all respects Part of the County of Warwick, and within the Hundred of Knightlow". As well as merging Coventry with the