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
Bishop of Coventry night of 14 November 1940 and remains today as a dignified ruin adjacent to the new cathedral building consecrated on 25 May 1962. The 8th Bishop of Coventry was Colin Bennetts, who retired on 31 January 2008. Christopher Cocksworth was ordained and consecrated as the 9th Bishop of Coventry on 3 July 2008 at Southwark Cathedral. He was enthroned and received into the diocese during a service at Coventry Cathedral on 1 November 2008. Cocksworth was previously Principal of Ridley Hall, part of the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges. Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the Ordinary of