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
Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65 at Perry Green, Hertfordshire. Moore made a larger and reversed version of the sculpture, "Mirror Knife Edge 1977" or "Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece" (LH 714) – which is 5.34x7.21x3.63m or about 17.5x23.7x11.9 feet and weighs about – which was commissioned for the entrance to I. M. Pei's east wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work is carefully cleaned and conserved each year to maintain the distinction between its shiny and patinated surfaces, as the artist intended. The second cast of "Knife Edge Two Piece" is located in Abingdon Street Gardens, also known as College