Album review: Paul McCreesh, Britten: War Requiem (Signum Classics)

 

Andy Gill
Thursday 29 August 2013 18:25 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The latest in Paul McCreesh's presentations of large-scale oratorios again uses the massed forces of the Gabrieli Consort & Players with the Wrocław Philharmonic Choir – more than 300 performers in all. The result is another triumphant realisation of a complex, multi-layered work, in which Benjamin Britten contrasted arrangements of the traditional Latin texts, with more modern passages featuring William Owen's war poetry. It's a dynamic most shockingly effective in the “Dies Irae” section, where the vaunting, “wondrous sound” of its choir and trumpets is summarily dismissed by “voices of old despondency resigned”, before the pieties of divine expectation are routed by the cavalier resignation of “Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death”.

Download: Requiem Aeternam; Dies Irae; Libera Me

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in