Britten's War Requiem

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Britten’s War Requiem

14 – 15 April

Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall

CONCERT PROGRAM

Artists

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Jaime Martín conductor

Samantha Clarke soprano

Toby Spence tenor

David Greco baritone

Gondwana Voices children’s chorus

Lyn Williams AM children’s chorus director

MSO Chorus

Warren Trevelyan-Jones chorus director

Program

BRITTEN War Requiem

Running time: approximately 90 minutes, no interval. Our musical Acknowledgment of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, will be performed at this concert.

Pre-concert events

Pre-concert talk: 14 & 15 April at 6:45pm in Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall.

Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with Associate Artistic Director of Gondwana Voices, Sam Allchurch, and MSO Director of Programming, John Nolan.

Please note audience members are strongly recommended to wear face masks where 1.5m distancing is not possible. In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.

These concerts may be recorded for future broadcast on MSO.LIVE

Acknowledging Country

Australia, the MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgment of Country with music composed by Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, featuring Indigenous languages from across Victoria. Generously supported by Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Commonwealth Government through the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, the MSO is working in partnership with Short Black Opera and Indigenous language custodians who are generously sharing their cultural knowledge.

The Acknowledgement of Country allows us to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we perform in the language of that country and in the orchestral language of music.

from a land which has been nurtured by the traditional owners for more than 2000 generations. When we acknowledge country we pay respect to the land and to the people in equal measure.

As a composer I have specialised in coupling the beauty and diversity of our Indigenous languages with the power and intensity of classical music. In order to compose the music for this Acknowledgement of Country Project I have had the great privilege of working with no fewer than eleven ancient languages from the state of Victoria, including the language of my late Grandmother, Yorta Yorta woman Frances McGee. I pay my deepest respects to the elders and ancestors who are represented in these songs of acknowledgement and to the language custodians who have shared their knowledge and expertise in providing each text.

I am so proud of the MSO for initiating this landmark project and grateful that they afforded me the opportunity to make this contribution to the ongoing quest of understanding our belonging in this land.

Australian National Commission for UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s pre-eminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.

Each year, the MSO engages with more than 5 million people, presenting in excess of 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO.LIVE, with audiences in 56 countries.

With a reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, the MSO works with culturally diverse and First Nations leaders to build community and deliver music to people across Melbourne, the state of Victoria and around the world.

In 2023, the MSO’s Chief Conductor, Jaime Martín continues an exciting new phase in the Orchestra’s history. Maestro Martín joins an Artistic Family that includes Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang, Principal Conductor in Residence, Benjamin Northey, Conductor Laureate, Sir Andrew Davis CBE, Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow, Carlo Antonioli, MSO Chorus Director, Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Soloist in Residence, Siobhan Stagg, Composer in Residence, Mary Finsterer, Ensemble in Residence, Gondwana Voices, Cybec Young Composer in Residence, Melissa Douglas and Young Artist in Association, Christian Li.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations, on whose un-ceded lands we honour the continuation of the oldest music practice in the world.

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 5

Musicians Performing in this Concert

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop

Concertmaster

David Li AM and Angela Li#

Tair Khisambeev

Assistant Concertmaster

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Peter Edwards

Assistant Principal

Amanda Chen

Sarah Curro

Deborah Goodall

Karla Hanna

Lorraine Hook

Anne-Marie Johnson

Kirstin Kenny

Eleanor Mancini

Mark Mogilevski

Michelle Ruffolo

Kathryn Taylor

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe

Associate Principal

Monica Curro

Assistant Principal

Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#

Mary Allison

Isin Cakmakcioglu

Tiffany Cheng

Glenn Sedgwick#

Freya Franzen

Cong Gu

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#

Andrew Hall

Philippa West

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Patrick Wong

Hyon Ju Newman#

Roger Young

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore Principal

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Merewyn Bramble*

Katharine Brockman

Lucy Carrigy-Ryan*

Anthony Chataway

Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

William Clark*

Molly Collier-O’Boyle*

Ceridwen Davies*

Isabel Morse*

Fiona Sargeant

Kate Worley*

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal

Rachael Tobin

Associate Principal

Elina Faskhi

Assistant Principal

Jonathan Chim*

Sarah Morse

Rebecca Proietto*

Angela Sargeant

Michelle Wood

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

DOUBLE BASSES

Caitlin Bass*

Benjamin Hanlon

Frank Mercurio and Di Jameson#

Suzanne Lee

Stephen Newton

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Gustavo Quintino*

Vivian Qu Siyuan*

Emma Sullivan*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal

Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

Correct as of 31 March 2023

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 6
BRITTEN’S

OBOES

Shefali Pryor* Guest Principal

Ann Blackburn

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

Rachel Curkpatrick*

COR ANGLAIS

Michael Pisani Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall

Associate Principal

Craig Hill

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Christopher Haycroft*

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Saul Lewis

Principal Third

The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall#

Abbey Edlin

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Ryan Humphrey*

Josiah Kop*

Rebecca Luton*

Rachel Shaw

Gary McPherson#

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris Principal

Shane Hooton

Associate Principal

Glenn Sedgwick#

William Evans*

Tristan Rebien*

TROMBONES

Richard Shirley

Mike Szabo

Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

TIMPANI

Scott Weatherson* Acting Principal

PERCUSSION

Shaun Trubiano* Principal

John Arcaro

Tim and Lyn Edward#

Robert Allan*

Robert Cossom

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

Nathan Gatenby*

Greg Sully*

HARP

Yinuo Mu Principal

PIANO/CELESTE

Louisa Breen*

ORGAN / CHAMBER

ORGAN

Calvin Bowman*

* Denotes Guest Musician # Position supported by

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 7

Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, Jaime Martín is also Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) for the 22/23 season and was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2022.

Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013, and has become very quickly sought after at the highest level. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (ORTVE) and Galicia Symphony orchestras, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martín is the Artistic Advisor and previous Artistic Director of the Santander Festival. He was also a founding member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, where he was Chief Conductor from 2012 to 2019.

The Chief Conductor is supported by Mr Marc Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO.

Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke is the winner of the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal and prize winner in the 2019 Grange International Festival Singing Competition. Samantha studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, as a Sir John Fisher Foundation and Independent Opera Scholar, under the tutelage of Mary Plazas.

Her operatic roles include: Helena and Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Countess Le Nozze di Figaro, Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress, The Governess The Turn of the Screw, Theodora and Beth Little Women.

Recent and future engagements include her role debut as Violetta La traviata with West Australian Opera, Marzelline Fidelio and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Simone Young, Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte at Queensland Opera, Dorset Opera and Grange Festival, her Proms debut in Mozart Requiem, Beethoven Symphony No.9 in Tasmania, Adina L’elisir d’amore at West Green House Opera, Golden Cockerel at the Adelaide Festival, and Flower Maiden Parsifal at Opera North.

Jaime Martín conductor Samantha Clarke soprano
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BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

Toby Spence tenor

An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2011 Singer of the Year award.

In concert Toby has sung with some of the most renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Operatic plans for 22/23 include role debuts as Alonso/ The Tempest for Teatro alla Scala and Erik/Der Fliegende Holländer for Teatro la Fenice. On the concert platform Toby sings Das Lied von der Erde Orchestre de Lille cond. Alexandre Bloch, St Matthew Passion for the Gulbenkian Foundation, Britten’s War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Bells with the Philharmonia Orchestra cond.

Stanislav Kochanovsky, the Glagolitic Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Edward Gardner, and Bach Magnificat cond. Mena with the Cincinnati Symphony. Further ahead, Toby returns to the Wiener Staatsoper.

David Greco baritone

Internationally regarded for his interpretations of Schubert Lieder and the works of J.S. Bach, baritone David Greco has sung on some of the finest stages across Europe and has appeared as a principal in opera festivals such as Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Glyndebourne.

He regularly appears with leading Australian ensembles such as Pinchgut Opera, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia and the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Western Australia symphony orchestras. He has appeared as a principal artist with Opera Australia, and his performances as Seneca in Pinchgut’s Coronation of Poppea and Momus in Platée received critical acclaim.

He has an impressive catalogue of solo recordings and is an active researcher into the historical performance practice of 19 th century vocal music; recently receiving his doctorate from Melbourne University. This led to the first Australian recordings of historically informed performances of Schubert’s song cycles Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin (ABC Classic), the latter receiving an ARIA nomination for Best Classical Album (2020). Schwanengesang will be recorded later this year.

Gondwana Voices

Founded by Lyn Williams AM in 1997, Gondwana Voices is Australia’s national children’s choir for treble singers aged 10-17. It regularly performs with the country’s leading ensembles and has built a reputation for performances of outstanding musicianship. The choristers of Gondwana Voices come from all around Australia, from the cities, the suburbs and the bush to perform captivating and challenging music. The choir tours nationally and internationally and has taken part in international choral festivals including the World Symposium on Choral Music, Rotterdam; America Cantat, Mexico City; Polyfollia, Normandy; and the BBC Proms. In 2019, Gondwana Voices performed Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under maestro Vladimir Jurowksi at the Berlin Philharmonie. The choir has recorded three albums for ABC Classics.

Gondwana Voices Chorus List

Sara Andrew

Hannah Appaneal

Arlie Bragg

Elias Buggy Axton

Etta Buggy Axton

Rachel Carpenter

Teya Catterall

Jolene Corpus

Astrid Durrant

Paige Easson

James Emmett

Sienna Flannery

Amelie Hamedl

Angela Han

Amira Hibberd

Daniel Hirst

Abigail Hughes

Finley Humberstone

Yuhansa Jayakody

Miranda Johnston

Max Junge

Esther Little

Thomas Mansour

Dylan Marrick

James Morris

Beatrix Parton

Juliette Pfeil

Mia Rogers

Elizabeth Samuel

Saskia Scheib

Reva Shinde

India Smith

Imogen Taylor

Liam Ullman

Miranda Vaz

Ash Watts

Avara Williams

Ebbeny Williams-Cherry

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BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

Lyn Williams is widely regarded as one of the finest conductors of choirs around the world. For over 30 years, Lyn has harnessed the incredible power of young voices through her worldrenowned ensembles: the Sydney Children’s Choir, Gondwana Voices, the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and Marliya. Her choirs have appeared with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors and at festivals including the BBC Proms and Polyfollia.

Lyn has commissioned over 200 works from composers across Australia and around the world and her ability to forge innovative and meaningful collaborations is widely recognised. She continues to foster strong relationships with First Nations artists across Australia, bringing together cultural custodians and composers to create new works which preserve and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages and cultures.

In 2017, Lyn received the Australia Council for the Arts’ Don Banks Music Award for outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia, in recognition of her lifework as founder and director of Gondwana Choirs. In 2021, Lyn received the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to Australian music.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones is the Head of Music at St James’, King Street in Sydney and is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars. Warren is also Director of the Parsons Affayre, Founder and Co-Director of The Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, founded the Gramophone award-winning group Ensemble Plus Ultra. Warren is also a qualified music therapist.

Lyn Williams AM children’s chorus director Warren Trevelyan-Jones chorus director
BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 11

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

For more than 50 years the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. The MSO Chorus sings with the finest conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Xian Zhang and Nodoko Okisawa, and is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire.

Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations. Recordings by the MSO Chorus have received critical acclaim. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final and at the Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

The MSO Chorus is always welcoming new members. If you would like to audition, please visit mso.com.au/chorus for more information.

MSO Chorus SOPRANO

Shirin Albert

Emma Anvari

Carolyn Archibald

Sheila Baker

Helena Balazs

Anne-Marie Brownhill

Eva Butcher

Aliz Cole

Jillian Colrain

Kylie Constantine

Veryan Croggon

Michele de Courcy

Isabelle Dennis

Laura Fahey

Catherine Folley

Susan Fone

Carolyn Francis

Nicole Free

Emma Hamley

Penny Huggett

Leanne Hyndman

Tania Jacobs

Gwen Kennelly

Ingrid Kirchner

Natasha Lambie

Judy Longbottom

Caitlin Noble

Karin Otto

Amanda Powell

Tanja Redl

Beth Richardson

Jo Robin

Danielle Rosenfeld-Lovell

Jodi Samartgis

Jillian Samuels

Julienne Seal

Fiona Steffensen

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Christa Tom

Fabienne Vandenburie

Asami Weaver

Jillian Wood

Tara Zamin

ALTO

Ruth Anderson

Margaret Arnold

Tes Benton

Catherine Bickell

Cecilia Björkegren

Kate Bramley

Jane Brodie

Alexandra Chubaty

Juliarna Clark

Mari Eleanor-Rapp

Nicola Eveleigh

Lisa Faulks

Claudia Funder

Jill Giese

Natasha Godfrey

Jillian Graham

Debbie Griffiths

Sophia Gyger

Ros Harbison

Jennifer Henry

Kristine Hensel

Helen Hill

Julie Lotherington

Helen MacLean

Christina McCowan

Rosemary McKelvie

Charlotte Midson

Sandy Nagy

Natasha Pracejus

Alison Ralph

Kate Rice

Helen Rommelaar

Kerry Roulston

Lisa Savige

Victoria Sdralis

Helen Staindl

Melvin Tan

TENOR

Adam Birch

Kent Borchard

Steve Burnett

Pete Campbell

Allan Chiang

James Dipnall

Simon Gaites

Lyndon Horsburgh

Michael Mobach

Matthew O’Leary

Colin Schultz

Robert Simpson

Torsten Stokirch

Brad Warburton

BASS

Maurice Amor

José Miguel Armijo Fidalgo

Kevin Barrell

David Bennett

Richard Bolitho

Stephen Bordignon

Roger Dargaville

Ted Davies

Peter Deane

Michael Gough

Elliott Gyger

Andrew Ham

Andrew Hibbard

John Howard

John Hunt

Jordan Hyndman

Jordan Janssen

Gary Levy

Tim March

Douglas McQueenThomson

Vern O’Hara

Douglas Proctor

Liam Straughan

Matthew Toulmin

Caleb Triscari

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 13

Every Great Orchestra Needs A Great Chorus

Did you know that our 160 MSO choristers give their time voluntarily every week to rehearse and perform our Season’s choral repertoire? On average, our Chorus appears onstage with the Orchestra 20 times a year, in addition to presenting a range of standalone performances.

Help us sing their praises by making a donation today to support the MSO Chorus. Your gift will help support the Chorus’ annual running costs, such as vocal coaching, rehearsals, repetiteurs, concerts, and music purchase.

Annual gifts of $500+ will automatically grant you access to MSO’s Patron program, where you can enjoy exclusive offers, invites to events and opportunities to meet musicians and guest artists.

To support the MSO Chorus, please call MSO Philanthropy on (03) 8646 1551 or donate online by make a donation today by scanning the QR code and selecting ‘MSO Chorus’ in the drop-down menu.

SUPPORT THE MSO CHORUS

Program Notes

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913–1976)

incorporating texts of WILFRED OWEN (1893–1918)

War Requiem, Op.66

I. Requiem aeternam

II. Dies irae

III. Offertorium

IV. Sanctus

V. Agnus Dei

VI. Libera me

“ The whole of my life has been devoted to acts of creation (being by profession a composer) and I cannot take part in acts of destruction. I do not believe in the Divinity of Christ, but I think his teaching is sound and his example should be followed.”

Benjamin Britten wrote these words in 1942, as part of a statement to the War Board in his application for conscientious objector status. Together with his lifelong partner, Peter Pears, Britten had left the UK for New York in early 1939. They returned three years later, but ran the risk of being branded criminals and facing incarceration if their application was rejected.

Britten had been committed to the pacifist cause from a very early age, even refusing to serve in his school’s cadet force at 13. He had begun thinking about a large-scale choral work to serve as a ‘call for peace’ when Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He was therefore keen to accept a commission from the Coventry Arts Committee, who approached him in October 1958 about the composition of a work to mark the consecration of Coventry Cathedral. The Cathedral had been destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs on 14 November

1940, in a raid nicknamed ‘Operation Moonlight Sonata’, and the Committee had ambitious plans with which to mark its reopening.

In 1961, Britten wrote to the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau:

I am writing what I think will be one of my most important works. It is a full-scale Requiem Mass for chorus and orchestra (in memory of those nations who died in the last war), and I am interspersing the Latin text with many poems of a great English poet, Wilfred Owen, who was killed in the First World War. These magnificent poems, full of the hate of destruction, are a kind of commentary on the Mass; they are, of course, in English. These poems will be set for tenor and baritone, with an accompaniment of chamber orchestra, placed in the middle of the other forces. They will need singing with the utmost beauty, intensity and sincerity. Peter Pears has agreed to sing the tenor part, and with great temerity, I am asking you whether you would sing the baritone.

Fischer-Dieskau accepted and Britten added a further solo part for soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, wife of his great friend and collaborator Mstislav Rostropovich.

The huge forces for the War Requiem are divided into three distinct groups, who do not perform concurrently until the final pages of the work. They are:

i. The children’s choir, accompanied by chamber organ or harmonium, usually positioned offstage. They sing the text of the Requiem Mass in Latin and are heard as voices from heaven.

ii. The main orchestra, main chorus and soprano soloist, who also sing in Latin and represent the celebration of the mass on earth.

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 15

iii. The two male soloists, accompanied by a chamber orchestra of string quintet, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, harp and percussion. The two soloists are soldiers and their text is the poetry of Wilfred Owen.

Although Wilfred Owen was killed in action at the Battle of the Sambre –only days before the Armistice – when Britten was barely a year old, the two make curiously kindred spirits. Both were committed pacifists, both fell under the spell of a charismatic older colleague (Siegfried Sassoon in Owen’s case and W.H. Auden in Britten’s), both were discreetly gay, both challenged the Church’s role in the condoning of war and both men wrote in gritty realities, contrary to the heroic spirit of the times. In many ways, Owen’s influence legitimises Britten’s writing of the War Requiem: Owen is Britten’s soldier at the front, providing a first-hand account of life in the trenches. Unlike Britten, Owen was never accused of cowardice or desertion.

The Requiem aeternam opens with a dark and foreboding atmosphere. Church bells intone an F sharp and C natural, the interval of a tritone that Britten uses throughout the score. Disjointed phrases gradually grow longer before the children’ chorus is heard in the distance. As the scene shifts to the battlefield, Britten mocks the sound of church bells with text from Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth, sung by the solo tenor (‘What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?’).

In the Dies irae, Britten connects the prophecies of the last trumpet from the Requiem text with the military bugles from Owen’s Voices. Later in the movement, the words of Owen’s The Next War (‘Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death;/ Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland’)

are sung by the two male soloists in a section marked ‘Fast and gay’. With the horrors that they face on a daily basis, the biblical Day of Judgment holds no fears for these soldiers.

The central crux of the War Requiem can be found in the Offertorium. The Latin text centres on the ancient promise of blessing that God made to Abraham and his descendants; the main chorus initially sings the text in fugal rejoicing. Britten then interpolates Owen’s The Parable of the Old Man and the Young, which tells the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, sung by the baritone soloist. When God instructs Abraham to spare Isaac and sacrifice the ram instead, the story departs from the traditional. The baritone sings, ‘But the old man would not so, but slew his son,/ And half the seed of Europe, one by one’. When the main chorus returns, their earlier material fragments and disintegrates, just as Abraham’s promise has.

The Sanctus is composed of stark contrasts. It opens with music of great splendour, as the solo soprano leads the main chorus in worship praising the glory of God. The section culminates in magnificent brass fanfares before the pity of War is heard against the opulence of the Church. The baritone sings from Owen’s The End, words of profound despair accompanied by bare orchestral writing.

The Agnus Dei is a dialogue between tenor soloist and the main chorus, with the verses from Owen’s At a Calvary Near the Ancre being answered with the text of Requiem Mass. It is a deeply unsettling combination of words concerning the divine sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of young soldiers. At the end of the movement, the tenor sings ‘dona nobis pacem’ in an upwards scale, the only time either of the male soloists sings in Latin throughout the work.

The Libera me opens with the sound

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BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

of military drums and the uneven march of soldiers, perhaps wounded, perhaps spectres. The chorus’ cries for deliverance become more impassioned and each utterance of the word ‘ignem’ (fire) is accompanied by the sound of the whip in the percussion section, as if to stress its potential doublemeaning as ‘gunfire’. From the rubble of the battlefield, we hear the text of Owen’s Strange Meeting, a conversation between two soldiers from opposing sides. It later becomes clear that this is a meeting between the killer and the killed and that both soldiers are already dead. As they duet on the words ‘Let us sleep now’, Britten finally unites his entire forces in music of hope and reconciliation. However just as a resolution sounds possible, the tritone bells sound again in warning. The dissonance leaves the listener musically and emotionally unsettled, as if to emphasise the perpetual threat of war.

War Requiem was premiered on 30 May 1962 in difficult circumstances. The Soviet Minister for Culture, Ekaterina Furtseva, had prevented Galina Vishnevskaya from leaving Russia, asking, ‘How can you, a Soviet woman, stand next to a German and an Englishman and perform a political work?’; British soprano Heather Harper was therefore given only ten days to learn the work. Britten himself was suffering from what he described as ‘a rotten arm’ and so decided to split the conducting duties with Meredith Davies, who had been preparing the choruses; Britten would conduct the chamber orchestra and male soloists while Davies would direct the main orchestra, chorus and soprano soloist. The problems continued however: the composer described the acoustics as ‘lunatic’, the cathedral authorities would not allow any staging to be erected, performing space was cramped and the entire audience was ushered in through one tiny door.

Despite all this, the premiere was a triumph. Reviewing the performance, playwright Peter Shaffer declared, ‘I believe it to be the most impressive and moving piece of sacred music ever to be composed in this country … the most profound and moving thing which this most committed of geniuses has so far achieved. It makes criticism impertinent.’ Further performances abounded and Decca released a recording of the work the following year, with Vishnevskaya finally in place as the solo soprano; it sold an unprecedented 200,000 copies in the first five months alone. Britten had clearly tapped into the contemporary zeitgeist and written a work that people needed to hear. Its continued popularity is evidence of the piece’s lasting resonance and relevance. As Owen wrote, and as Britten quoted on the front page of the score, ‘My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity … All a poet can do today is warn.’

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I. Requiem Aeternam

Chorus

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Children’s Chorus

Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion; et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem; exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veneit.

Tenor solo

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Thou, O God, art praised in Sion; and unto Thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem; Thou who hearest the prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns, Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries for them from prayers or bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Chorus

Kyrie eleison.

Christe eleison.

Kyrie eleison.

II. Dies Irae

Chorus

Dies irae, dies illa, Solvet saeclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando Judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba mirum spargens sonum

Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.

Day of wrath and doom impending, Heaven and earth in ashes ending: David’s words with Sybil’s blending. Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth when from heaven the judge descendeth on whose sentence all dependeth!

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth

Texts and Translation
| 14–15 April 18
BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

Per sepulcra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum, Mors stupebit et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Judicanti responsura.

Baritone solo Bugles sang, saddening the evening air, And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.

through earth’s sepulchres it ringeth all before the throne it bringeth. Death is struck and nature quaking, all creation is awaking, to its judge an answer making.

Voices of boys were by the river-side. Sleep mothered them, and left the twilight sad. The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.

Voices of old despondency resigned, Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.

Soprano solo and Chorus Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit: Nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?

Quem patronum rogaturus, Cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendae majestatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me, fons pietatis.

Tenor and Baritone solos

Lo! the book exactly worded, wherein all hath been recorded; thence shall judgment be awarded. When the judge his seat attaineth, and each hidden deed arraigneth, nothing unavenged remaineth. What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding, when the just are mercy needing? King of majesty tremendous, who dost free salvation send us, Fount of pity, then befriend us!

Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death; Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland, –Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.

We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, –

Our eyes wept, but our courage didn’t writhe.

He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed Shrapnel. We chorussed when he sang aloft; We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.

Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!

We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum. No soldier’s paid to kick against his powers.

We laughed, knowing that better men would come, And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags

He wars on Death – for Life; not men – for flags.

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BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 19

Chorus

Recordare Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuae viae: Ne me perdas illa die.

Quaerens me, sedisti lassus: Redemisti crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus: Culpa rubet vultus meus: Supplicanti parce Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti. Inter oves locum praesta, Et ab haedis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra. Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis, Voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis: Gere curam mei finis.

Baritone solo

Think, kind Jesus – my salvation caused Thy wondrous incarnation; leave me not to reprobation. Faint and weary Thou has sought me; on the cross of suffering brought me; shall such grace be vainly brought me? Guilty, now I pour my moaning all my shame with anguish owning; spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning! Through the sinful Mary shriven, through the dying thief forgiven, Thou to me a hope hast given. With Thy sheep a place provide me, from the goat afar divide me, to Thy right hand do Thou guide me. When the wicked are confounded, doomed to flames of woe unbounded, call me, with Thy saints surrounded. Low I kneel with heart-submission; see, like ashes, my contrition! Help me in my last condition!

Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm, Great gun towering toward Heaven, about to curse; Reach at that arrogance which needs thy harm, And beat it down before its sins grow worse; But when thy spell be cast complete and whole, May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!

Soprano solo and Chorus

Dies irae …

Lacrimosa dies illa, Qua resurget ex favilla

Judicandus homo reus, Huic ergo parce Deus.

Tenor solo

Move him into the sun –Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know.

Ah, that day of tears and mourning! From the dust of earth returning, man for judgement must prepare him: Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!

WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 20
BRITTEN’S

Think how it wakes the seeds, –Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? –O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

Chorus

Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen.

III. Offertorium

Children’s Chorus

Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni, et de profundo lacu: libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.

Chorus

Sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam: quam olim Abrahae promisisti, et semini ejus.

Tenor and Baritone solos

Lord, all-pitying, Jesu blest, grant them rest. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the depths of the pit: deliver them from the lion’s mouth, that hell may devour them not, that they fall not into darkness.

But let the standard-bearer Saint Michael bring them into the holy light: which of old Thou didst promise unto Abraham and his seed.

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went, And took the fire with him, and a knife, And as they sojourned both of them together, Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father, Behold the preparations, fire and iron, But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?

Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps, And builded parapets and trenches there, And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son. When lo! an angel called him out of heaven, Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, Neither do anything to him. Behold, A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns; Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him. But the old man would not so, but slew his son, –And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

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BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 21

WAR REQUIEM

BRITTEN’S

Children’s Chorus

Hostias et preces tibi Domine

laudis offerimus:

tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam facimus: face eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam.

IV. Sanctus

Chorus

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus

Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt coeli et terra

gloria tua, Hosanna in excelsis.

Sanctus …

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.

Sanctus …

Baritone solo

We offer unto Thee, O Lord, sacrifices of prayer and praise: do Thou receive them for the souls of those whose memory we this day recall: make them, O Lord, to pass from death to life.

After the blast of lightning from the East, The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot Throne; After the drums of Time have rolled and ceased, And by the bronze west long retreat is blown, Shall life renew these bodies? Of a truth

All death will He annul, all tears assuage? –Fill the void veins to Life again with youth, And wash, with an immortal water, Age? When I do ask white Age he saith not so: ‘My head hangs weighed with snow.’

And when I hearken to the Earth, she saith: ‘My fiery heart shrinks, aching. It is death. Mine ancient scars shall not be glorified, Nor my titanic tears, the sea, be dried.’

V. Agnus Dei

Tenor solo

One ever hangs where shelled roads part. In this war He too lost a limb, But His disciples hide apart;

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory, Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High. Holy … Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High. Holy … | 14–15 April 22

And now the Soldiers bear with Him.

Near Golgotha strolls many a priest, And in their faces there is pride

That they were flesh-marked by the Beast

By whom the gentle Christ’s denied. The scribes on all the people shove And bawl allegiance to the state, But they who love the greater love Lay down their life; they do not hate.

Chorus

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Tenor solo

Dona nobis pacem.

VI. Libera Me

Soprano solo and Chorus

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda:

Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra, Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.

Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra.

Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde. Libera me, Domine …

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.

Grant us peace.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day: when the heavens and earth shall be shaken, when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

I am in fear and trembling till the sifting be upon us, and the wrath to come, when the heavens and earth shall be shaken, O that day, that day of wrath, of calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness. Deliver me, O Lord …

Please turn pages quietly
BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 23

Tenor and Baritone solos

It seemed that out of battle I escaped Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped Through granites which titanic wars had groined. Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned, Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred. Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared With piteous recognition in fixed eyes, Lifting distressful hands as if to bless. And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan, ‘Strange friend,’ I said, ‘here is no cause to mourn.’ ‘None,’ said the other, ‘save the undone years, The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours, Was my life also; I went hunting wild

After the wildest beauty in the world.

For by my glee might many men have laughed, And of my weeping something had been left, Which must die now. I mean the truth untold, The pity of war, the pity war distilled. Now men will go content with what we spoiled. Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled. They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress, None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress. Miss we the march of this retreating world Into vain citadels that are not walled.

Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels I would go up and wash them from sweet wells, Even from wells we sunk too deep for war, Even the sweetest wells that ever were.

I am the enemy you killed, my friend. I knew you in this dark; for so you frowned Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed. I parried; but my hands were loath and cold. Let us sleep now …’

WAR
| 14–15 April 24
BRITTEN’S
REQUIEM

Children’s Chorus, Soprano solo and Chorus

In paradisum deducant te Angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.

Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.

Children’s Chorus

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Chorus

Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Into paradise may the Angels lead thee: at thy coming may the Martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem, May the Choir of Angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, once poor, mayest thou have eternal rest.

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace. Amen.

BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM | 14–15 April 25
Text from the Missa pro defunctis and the poems of Wilfred Owen.

Supporters

MSO PATRON

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Anonymous

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Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO

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Anonymous (1)

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Anonymous (1)

26 Supporters

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Anonymous (1)

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Supporters

Anonymous (2) 27

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Anonymous (4)

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28
Supporters

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Anonymous (12)

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30 Supporters

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Anonymous (19)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates:

Norma Ruth Atwell

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31 Supporters

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HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Life Members

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Anonymous

MSO Ambassador

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The MSO honours the memory of Life Members

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32 Supporters

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Xian Zhang

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Hiroyuki Iwaki †

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Warren Trevelyan-Jones

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Siobhan Stagg

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Melissa Douglas

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Christopher Moore

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Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

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Dr Anita Collins

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Tan Dun

Lu Siqing

MSO BOARD

Chairman

David Li AM

Co-Deputy Chairs

Di Jameson

Helen Silver AO

Managing Director

Sophie Galaise

Board Directors

Shane Buggle

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Lorraine Hook

Margaret Jackson AC

David Krasnostein AM

Gary McPherson

Farrel Meltzer

Hyon-Ju Newman

Glenn Sedgwick

Company Secretary

Oliver Carton

The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our supporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.

The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows:

$500+ (Overture)

$1,000+ (Player)

$2,500+ (Associate)

$5,000+ (Principal)

$10,000+ (Maestro)

$20,000+ (Impresario)

$50,000+ (Virtuoso)

$100,000+ (Platinum)

33
Supporters

Principal

Education Partner

Major Partners

Orchestral Training Partner

Government Partners

Venue Partner

Supporting Partners

Quest

you to our
Thank
Partners
Partner Premier Partners
Southbank
Bows for Strings Ernst & Young

Media and Broadcast Partners

Trusts and Foundations

The MSO is committed to a sustainable future for our art form and our audiences. As such, this program has been printed on Revive Laser stock. Revive Laser is 100% Recycled, and Certified Carbon Neutral against Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard. Made in Australia by an ISO 14001 certified mill. No chlorine bleaching occurs in the recycling process.

The Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation, Flora & Frank Leith Trust, Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund
Freemasons Foundation Victoria
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