King Priam King Priam King Priam is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's "Iliad", except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the "Fabulae" of Hyginus. The premiere was on 29 May 1962, at Coventry. The opera was composed for an arts festival held in conjunction with the reconsecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, for which Benjamin Britten also wrote his "War Requiem", which was first performed in the Cathedral the day after the premiere of "King Priam". The first Covent Garden performance was on 5 June, conducted by John
Earl of Coventry of his deceased uncle the Hon. Francis Coventry (1612–1680), failing which to 2) his three second cousins William Coventry, Thomas Coventry and Henry Coventry, grandsons of his deceased great-uncle Walter Coventry (d. 1640), younger brother of the first Baron Coventry. The titles were in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was "Custos Rotulorum" of Worcestershire. His son, the third Earl, died as a child and was succeeded by his uncle, the fourth Earl. He had no sons and on his death in 1719 the barony of Coventry became extinct. He was