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
Iconostasis of the Cathedral of the Archangel Iconostasis of the Cathedral of the Archangel The Iconostasis of Cathedral of the Archangel Michael is a traditional Russian iconostasis, which dates from 1678-81. The iconostasis, which has been preserved to our day, is located in The Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin of Moscow The large iconostasis, 13 meters high, dates from 1678-81. Ninety-two painters selected by Simon Ushakov, the famous icon painter of the 17th century, took part in painting the murals of Archangel Cathedral. The paintings in the Archangel Cathedral are monumental showing the obvious tendency of the masters to spaciousness and simultaneously to simple and