Grappling with Britten’s “War Requiem” at Seattle Symphony

Michael van Baker — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 23:54:21 +0000

Britten's War Requiem doesn't recreate the cathedral as a bulwark of serenity, but as a frail structure ripped open, shot through with booming bursts and siren lamentation. It's a work with many moving parts: the traditional Mass for the dead, in Latin, glossed by nine poems in English from World War I poet Wilfred Owen.

Stile Antico Creates a Cathedral of Sound at St. James

Philippa Kiraly — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:52:07 +0000

The heart of the program was an incomplete Mass, Puer natus est, by Thomas Tallis, interspersed with other settings for Advent and Christmas by William Byrd, Robert White, John Taverner, and John Sheppard. From unison plainchant which ebbed and flowed like speech, to seven intricate, complex parts for the Tallis, Stile Antico sang unaccompanied with exact pitch and no vibrato so that chords were marvels of perfection.

The SunBreak » cathedral

Grappling with Britten’s “War Requiem” at Seattle Symphony

Stile Antico Creates a Cathedral of Sound at St. James