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
Music of Remembrance and reconstructed in the USA in 1942. Music specially commissioned by the company includes "Camp Songs" (2002) by Paul Schoenfield, five songs set to poems by who was interned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This piece was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2003 and was also on their first recording. Music of Remembrance also commissioned three pieces by Jake Heggie: "For a Look or A Touch" (2007, for baritone and actor), about the persecution of gay men during the Holocaust; "Another Sunrise" (2012, soprano), based on the life and work of Polish resistance member and