How to celebrate the anniversary of an institution which has sat at the heart of a nation’s music-making for 200 years. One which values the power of the voice to bring people together. We live in troubled times, and in such times, music speaks a universal language. Art does not change a world, but art changes people, who in turn have the power to make the world a better place. This was the sentiment to open Sunday’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem given by the students of the Koninklijk Conservatorium, The Hague conducted by conservatoire alumnus Sam Weller. A brave, yet natural choice of repertoire for a city home to the International Court of Justice, and one with peace at its core.
The programme
The history
Premiered in May 1962 for the reconsecration of the newly rebuilt Coventry Cathedral following its destruction during an air raid on November 15th 1940, Britten’s War Requiem pairs the traditional Latin Mass for the dead with the poetry of Wilfred Owen, a British soldier on the Western Front who was tragically killed just one week before the end of the First World War.
In bringing together these two texts, in the words of Jeremy Eichler, former Boston Globe critic and author of Time’s Echo – Music, Memory and the Second World War, Britten ‘created a work that simultaneously honours the dead in solemn tradition-minded tones and refuses to […] airbrush the brutality of war’.
Poetry is central to Britten’s spirit of honouring the dead, but his message of reconciliation is also a warning to future generations. Written mostly in 1961, the year which witnessed both the Bay of Pigs – the failed CIA military attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist Cuban government – and the construction of the Berlin Wall, its premiere the following year coincided with escalating military tensions between the US and Vietnam. Parallels with current global tensions seem alarmingly similar.
Britten’s War Requiem in the Grote Kerk
Weller’s atmospheric opening immediately evoked a mood of post-war uncertainty. The confident voices of the National Boys’ Choir channelled a very British choral tradition; the stunning calm of the chorus’ ‘Kyrie eleison’ died away to a searing ‘n…’; fabulous brass opened the Dies Irae; and a tolling bell punctuated ‘Pie Jesu Domine’.
The most successful moments were those that took time to let the music speak and where both texts exerted the power to move all concerned. However, from my seat towards the back, as is so often the case in similarly resonant acoustics, matters of balance, tempo and diction reared their head. For the most part, Owen’s poignant poetry remained hidden, and without programme notes, would have been lost completely. Tenor Jan-Wilem Schaafsma standing to the left beside the chamber orchestra and behind a huge pillar, suffered immeasurably. Shaky English pronunciation and struggles with Britten’s declamatory style compounded difficulties. Similarly, baritone Wessel Wirken struggled to be heard, leaving his unaccompanied line: ‘I am the enemy you killed my friend,’ to do the heavy lifting. Thankfully, distinctive woodwind colours and beautiful horn phrasing in ‘Bugles Sang’ stepped in to express the desolation and pain so missing from the vocals.
Two impressions lingered.
Firstly, Sam Weller’s impressive journey over the past eighteen months since appearing as a finalist in the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam. Conducting Britten’s War Requiem, assisted by César Ramos with the chamber orchestra and Lászlo Nemes with the boys’ choir, is a huge undertaking. And for the most part, his much more relaxed and efficient conducting style coupled with a deep understanding of Britten’s nuance-laden score served him well as he coaxed the very best out of the assembled talent before him. Vivid colours, searing crescendos and moments of high emotion are now part of this young Australian’s vocabulary.
In the same vein, the conservatoire students deserve high praise for their commitment performing a work which for most, was entirely new. May Britten’s message of reconciliation live long, and kindle a love not just of all things British, but of open hearts, of tolerance and forgiveness, and a deep respect for those who gave their lives over a century ago so today, we can all walk free.
Clare attended the performance on Sunday 18th October in the Grote Kerk, The Hague
Read more from Clare
Follow Clare Varney on Facebook or Instagram to read more about Music and Culture
