accessible, intuitive -
a missing chapter in
the history of Coventry
Just £12.75 (+p&p) with all profits donated to Coventry Cathedral’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations 2012. Publishes 30th April 2012. Purchase only after this date.
This extraordinary new book captures and eloquently shares the woven tapestry of artistic emotions that led to the creation and performance of Britten’s War Requiem. The requiem was written as part of the celebrations surrounding the Consecration of Coventry Cathedral in May 1962; the book is written to celebrate it’s Golden Jubilee.
War Requiem concerns the brutality and futility of war; the senseless suffering, monstrous death and the destruction that it brings.
A setting of the Latin Requiem Mass is interspersed with the sardonic and disillusioned First World War poetry of Wilfred Owen, pasted into a huge collage-like experience. And this experience remains today as unforgettable, both for audience and performers alike, as it did at the premiere of War Requiem 50 years ago.
The world history into which this scene is set is as momentous as the work itself. Michael Foster’s book is a labour of love – a remarkable book to celebrate a remarkable work. Step back into a period of recovery, a period of austerity, a period of hope. Witness the clash of creative titans within the reverence of reconciliatory art that is Coventry Cathedral.
if you have an interest in Coventry, its history and phoenix-like rise from the ashes of war – this book is for you
