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
Coventry Ring Road Coventry Ring Road The A4053, commonly known as the Coventry Ring Road, is a ring road in Coventry, England, which forms a complete dual carriageway loop around the city centre. The road encompasses the old and new Coventry Cathedrals, Coventry University, West Orchard and Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centres, Coventry Skydome Arena, and many other businesses. Unlike many other city centre ring roads, Coventry ring road is made up of entirely grade-separated junctions except for one roundabout, this leads to the junctions being extremely close together and in effect one junction leads into another at many points. After the Second World