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The Philadelphia Orchestra

Charles Dutoit ConductorTatiana Pavlovskaya SopranoSteve Davislim TenorMatthias Goerne BaritoneWestminster Symphonic ChoirJoe Miller DirectorThe American BoychoirFernando Malvar-Ruiz Director

Britten War Requiem, Op. 66 I. Requiem aeternum II. Dies irae III. Offertorium IV. Sanctus V. Agnus Dei VI. Libera me

This program runs approximately 1 hour, 30 minutes, and will be performed without an intermission.

These performances are made possible in part by the generous support of the Presser Foundation and by Mollie and Frank Slattery, in honor of Charles Dutoit.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit WRTI.org to listen live or for more details.

Season 2016-2017Thursday, March 23, at 8:00Friday, March 24, at 2:00Saturday, March 25, at 8:00

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The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of imagination and innovation on and off the concert stage. The Orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging—and exceeding—that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world.Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s connection to the Orchestra’s musicians has been praised by both concertgoers and critics since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his leadership the Orchestra returned to recording, with two celebrated CDs on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, continuing its history of recording success. The Orchestra also reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra continues to discover new and inventive ways to nurture its relationship with its loyal patrons at its home in the Kimmel Center, and also with those who enjoy the Orchestra’s area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The Orchestra maintains a strong commitment to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national level, all of which create greater access and engagement with classical music as an art form.The Philadelphia Orchestra serves as a catalyst for cultural activity across Philadelphia’s many communities, building an offstage presence as strong as its onstage one. With Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated body of musicians, and one of the nation’s richest arts ecosystems, the Orchestra has launched its HEAR initiative, a portfolio of integrated initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, eliminates barriers to Accessing the orchestra, and maximizes

impact through Research. The Orchestra’s award-winning Collaborative Learning programs engage over 50,000 students, families, and community members through programs such as PlayINs, side-by-sides, PopUP concerts, free Neighborhood Concerts, School Concerts, and residency work in Philadelphia and abroad. Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, The Philadelphia Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the US. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, the ensemble today boasts a new partnership with Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, and in 2017 will be the first-ever Western orchestra to appear in Mongolia. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, NY, and Vail, CO. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Jessica Griffin

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Music DirectorMusic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now confirmed to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with the 2021-22 season. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader of the Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” Highlights of his fifth season include an exploration of American Sounds, with works by Leonard Bernstein, Christopher Rouse, Mason Bates, and Christopher Theofanidis; a Music of Paris Festival; and the continuation of a focus on opera and sacred vocal works, with Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Mozart’s C-minor Mass.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 2008 and artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He was also principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with two CDs on that label. He continues fruitful recording relationships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. In Yannick’s inaugural season The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year, Canada’s National Arts Centre Award, the Prix Denise-Pelletier, and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.

Chris Lee

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Conductor LaureateCharles Dutoit is one of today’s most sought-after conductors. He is presently artistic director and principal conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic. In 2010-11 he celebrated his 30-year artistic collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which in turn bestowed upon him the title of conductor laureate in 2012. He collaborates every season with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles and is a regular guest on the stages of London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, among others. His more than 200 recordings for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Philips, and Erato have garnered multiple awards and distinctions including two Grammys.

For 25 years Mr. Dutoit was artistic director of the Montreal Symphony, and from 1991 to 2001 music director of the Orchestre National de France. In 1996 he was appointed music director of the NHK Symphony in Tokyo; today he is its music director emeritus. For 10 years he was music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s season at the Mann Center, and for 21 years at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Mr. Dutoit has been music director of both the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival and the Miyazaki International Music Festival in Japan, as well as the Canton International Summer Music Academy in Guangzhou. In 2009 he became music director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. While still in his early 20s, Mr. Dutoit was invited by Herbert von Karajan to conduct at the Vienna State Opera. He has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Rome Opera, and the Teatro Colón.

In 1991 Mr. Dutoit was made an Honorary Citizen of Philadelphia. In 1995 he was named Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Québec, and in 1996 Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France. In 1998 he was invested as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2007 he received the Gold Medal of the city of Lausanne, his birthplace, and in 2014 was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards. He holds honorary doctorates from McGill University, the University of Montreal, Laval University, and the Curtis Institute. A globetrotter motivated by his passion for history, art, archaeology, political science, and architecture, he has traveled in all 196 nations of the world.

Priska Ketterer

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SoloistRussian soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya began her musical education as a pianist and choral director and completed her post-graduate study at St. Petersburg’s State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where she also taught solo singing as a professor’s assistant. After graduating from the Conservatory in 1994 she joined the Mariinsky Theatre and made her debut as Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. She has since appeared in opera houses all over the world, including La Scala, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her roles include Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, Liù in Puccini’s Turandot, Antonia in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

Ms. Pavlovskaya has appeared in a gala concert with Plácido Domingo and the London Philharmonic under the baton of Valery Gergiev. She has also worked on the operatic stage with Mr. Domingo and José Carreras. Recent engagements outside of the Mariinsky Theatre include appearances at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Liceu Theatre in Barcelona, and Monte Carlo Opera. Ms. Pavlovskaya, who is making her Philadelphia Orchestra debut, has appeared with many internationally acclaimed ensembles, including the New York, Los Angeles, Munich, and St. Petersburg philharmonics; the Boston, Chicago, Bamberg, Melbourne, Swedish Radio, and Danish National symphonies; the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich; the Orchestre National de Lyon; and the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra. She has also appeared at the Lucerne Festival and the Beijing Music Festival. The list of conductors with whom she has collaborated include Charles Dutoit, Yuri Temirkanov, Semyon Bychkov, Mikhail Pletnev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ion Marin, Andrew Davis, Jiří Bělohlávek, and Vladimir Jurowski.

Ms. Pavlovskaya’s discography includes recordings for the Philips, DECCA, Frankfurt Opera, WDR, Mariinsky, Glyndebourne, and Deutsche Grammophon labels. This season she also sings Britten’s War Requiem at the Bratislava International Music Festival with conductor James Conlon. She currently holds the position of Honored Artist of Russia at the Mariinsky Theatre.

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SoloistAustralian tenor Steve Davislim makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut with these performances. He began his professional career as an ensemble member of the Zurich Opera, where his numerous roles included Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Camille in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, the Painter in Berg’s Lulu under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Mr. Davislim has also appeared at the Berlin State Opera and in Dresden as Almaviva, Tamino, Don Ottavio, and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress; at the Vienna State Opera as Tamino; at Hamburg Opera as Tom Rakewell, Almaviva, and Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin; at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff; at the Australian Opera in Sydney as Don Ottavio, Lensky, and David in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; at the Châtelet Paris in the title role in Weber’s Oberon (with a subsequent CD recording); at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera as Pedrillo in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio; at the Salzburg Festival as Pong in Puccini’s Turandot; and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge.

A turning point in Mr. Davislim’s career was his interpretation of the title role in Mozart’s Idomeneo at La Scala in December 2005 under Daniel Harding. He was subsequently invited back in 2007 to sing the title role in the world premiere of Teneke by Fabio Vacchi under Roberto Abbado and in 2011 as Tamino in The Magic Flute. Upcoming performances on the opera stage include the title role in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Glyndebourne Festival this summer.

Mr. Davislim appears regularly on concert stages all over the world. He has worked with such esteemed conductors as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Colin Davis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, and David Zinman. He has recorded for EMI, ECM, LSO Live, Harmonia Mundi, Opus 111, Melba, and Supraphon. He has twice been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee award and Australia Council scholarship.

Rosa Frank

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SoloistGerman baritone Matthias Goerne made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1996. He is a frequent guest at renowned festivals and concert halls and has collaborated with leading orchestras all over the world. Conductors of the first rank as well as eminent pianists are among his musical partners. He has appeared on the world’s principal opera stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Paris National Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His carefully chosen roles range from Wagner—Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Amfortas in Parsifal, Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde, and Wotan in the Ring Cycle—to the title roles in Berg’s Wozzeck and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

Highlights of Mr. Goerne’s 2016-17 season include concerts with leading orchestras in the U.S. and Europe such as the San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh symphonies; the Los Angeles and Berlin philharmonics; the Orchestre de Paris; and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. He also appears in a series of song recitals with pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Markus Hinterhäuser in Dallas, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Madrid, London, and at the new Lotte Hall in Seoul; continues his world tour of William Kentridge’s celebrated multi-media production of Schubert’s Winterreise; and tours major European cities with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. He also sings Jochanaan in Strauss’s Salome at the Vienna State Opera and Wotan in a concert version of Wagner’s Siegfried with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden. In the summer of 2017 he returns to the Salzburg Festival in the title role in Wozzeck and to perform a song recital with Daniil Trifonov at the piano.

Mr. Goerne’s numerous recordings have received prestigious awards, including four Grammy nominations, an ICMA award, and the Diapason d’Or. His latest recordings include Brahms songs with pianist Christoph Eschenbach, Mahler songs with the BBC Symphony, and a series of selected Schubert songs for Harmonia Mundi. From 2001 through 2005 he taught as an honorary professor of song interpretation at the Robert Schumann Academy of Music in Düsseldorf. In 2001 he was appointed an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Marco B

orggreve

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ChorusRecognized as one of the world’s leading choral ensembles, Westminster Symphonic Choir has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 82 years. The Choir made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski in Bach’s Mass in B minor. In recent seasons the ensemble has been featured in performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bernstein’s MASS, and Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who studied choral conducting at Westminster Choir College. 

The Choir most recently appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra in November 2016 for performances of Ravel’s complete Daphnis and Chloe conducted by Yannick. Other season highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw with the New York Philharmonic, and Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, as part of the Philharmonic’s Tchaikovsky and His World Festival. Recent seasons have included performances of Berg’s Wozzeck with the London Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen; Villa-Lobos’s Choros No. 10 and Estévez’s Cantata Criolla with the Simón Bolívar Symphony of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim; and Rouse’s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert.

The ensemble is composed of juniors, seniors, and graduate students at Westminster Choir College. The Choir is led by Joe Miller, director of choral activities at the College and artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA. Dr. Miller has made three recordings with the 40-voice Westminster Choir, which is part of the larger Symphonic Choir: Noël, a collection of French Christmas music and sacred works; The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder; and Flower of Beauty, which received four stars from Choir and Organ magazine and earned the ensemble critical praise from American Record Guide as “the gold standard for academic choirs in America.” Westminster Choir College is a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts, which has campuses in Princeton and Lawrenceville, N.J.

Peter Borg

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ChorusThe American Boychoir made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1952 and most recently appeared with the ensemble in December 2016 for Orff’s Carmina burana. The Boychoir has long been recognized as one of the finest musical ensembles in the country. Under the leadership of Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Litton-Lodal Artistic Director, the American Boychoir has dazzled audiences with its unique blend of musical sophistication, spirited presentation, and ensemble virtuosity. The Boychoir performs regularly with world-class orchestras, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony, and is often featured with such illustrious conductors as James Levine, Charles Dutoit, and Alan Gilbert. The Boychoir is frequently invited to join internationally-renowned artists on stage, and the list of collaborators reflects the extraordinary range of the ensemble, from great classical artists such as Jessye Norman and Frederica von Stade to jazz legend Wynton Marsalis and pop icons Beyoncé and Paul McCartney.

The America Boychoir’s young soloists are also in high demand and have joined forces with the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Spoleto Festival USA, to name a few. As an icon of American musical excellence, the Boychoir has been invited to sing for nine sitting U.S. Presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Touring frequently at home and abroad as preeminent ambassadors, the American Boychoir spreads messages of beauty and hope through outstanding musical achievement.

Boys in fourth through eighth grades, reflecting the ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity of the United States, come from across the country and around the world to pursue a rigorous musical and academic curriculum at the American Boychoir School near Princeton, N.J. While keeping up with their academic demands, the boys balance schoolwork with an intense national and international touring schedule.

Yao-Wen Yeh

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Framing the ProgramBenjamin Britten composed his great War Requiem to consecrate England’s 14th-century Coventry Cathedral in 1962, newly rebuilt after being destroyed in a Nazi bombing. This remarkable work by the committed pacifist composer ponders the horrors of war. Britten combines words from the Latin Mass for the Dead with poetry by Wilfred Owen, who died in battle just days before the end of the First World War.

Britten said his aim was to have each of the three soloists represent “the three nations that had suffered most during the war”—England, Germany, and Russia—and this performance honors that tradition with singers soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya, tenor Steve Davislim (from Australia), and baritone Matthias Goerne.

The performing forces for the War Requiem are divided into three groups: a full orchestra and chorus sing the Latin liturgy with the soprano soloist; tenor and baritone are accompanied by a chamber orchestra; and a boys’ choir, accompanied by organ, functions with the chorus to create a remote, archaic mood. All the performers join together at the conclusion of the piece.

1961BrittenWar Requiem

MusicLigetiAtmosphèresLiteratureHellerCatch-22ArtLichtensteinEngagement RingHistoryBerlin Wall constructed

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The MusicWar Requiem

Benjamin BrittenBorn in Lowestoft, England, November 22, 1913Died in Aldeburgh, December 4, 1976

“Coventry Cathedral,” wrote Benjamin Britten in a letter to the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in February 1961, “like so many wonderful buildings in Europe, was destroyed in the last war. It has now been rebuilt in a very remarkable fashion, and for the reconsecration of the new building they are holding a big Festival. … 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 of all 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. The 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.”

Two World Events as Inspiration Thus Britten summarized his pacifist masterpiece, the War Requiem, in soliciting Fischer-Dieskau’s services for its world premiere. He had already been assured of the collaboration of the English tenor Peter Pears, Britten’s lifelong companion, and not until later did he strike upon the idea of using a soprano to heighten the liturgical choruses. The composer later cited the Requiem’s conceptual origins as dating back to the years immediately following the Second World War, when two profound world events had stimulated his thinking toward some sort of global Mass for the Dead: the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the premature death of Mohandas Gandhi in 1948, who was shot in New Delhi while leading a prayer for peace. The first event was significant in the way that it summarized the enormity of 20th-century warfare, the second because of Britten’s lifelong devotion to the pacifism Gandhi proclaimed.

Both for Britten and for Europe, the time was ripe for a War Requiem. The Coventry Cathedral’s commission for a large composition with which to reopen its doors, it is true, gave the composer the practical impetus to realize the ideas that had fermented within him for more than a

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decade; nevertheless the music of the War Requiem could not have come about without the musical “preparation” of the choral works of Britten’s earlier years, or his brilliant instrumental experiments in the concertos and the Sinfonia da requiem, or (most important) his epoch-making theater works of the 1940s and ’50s. (The emotional fire and dramatic awe of such works as Peter Grimes or The Turn of the Screw are apparent especially in the soloistic passages of the Requiem, many of which could almost be sung by a Grimes or a Quint.) As for the European public, 1961 seemed just the right chronological removal from the horrors of Dachau and D-Day, with wounds beginning to close but far from healed over. “It’s a kind of reparation,” Britten said of the Requiem many years later, and the piece fell upon ears ripe for reparation and, indeed, forgiveness.

A Huge Success The first performance at Coventry Cathedral, on May 30, 1962, was an overwhelming success. Pears and Fischer-Dieskau performed brilliantly, as did Heather Harper, who sang the soprano part. “The most impressive and moving piece of sacred music ever to be composed in this country,” declared the playwright Peter Shaffer. “It makes criticism impertinent.” Fischer-Dieskau was so caught up in the work that he could not be coaxed from the choir stalls afterward. “I was completely undone,” the singer later wrote. “Dead friends and past suffering arose in my mind.” The piece quickly penetrated the imagination first of English, then of Continental, then of worldwide audiences. Colin Davis conducted the first German performance in Berlin, in November 1962. The London premiere of the work the following month finally included Galina Vishnevskaya, the soprano for whom Britten had intended the part—but whom the Soviets had not allowed out of the country the year before. (Britten had met the singer through his friendship with her husband, the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom he composed a number of solo and concerto works.)

Britten said his aim was to have each of three soloists of the first performances represent “the three nations that had suffered most during the war”—England, Germany, and Russia. He has been criticized for a view too narrow, one that downplays the loss of millions of Jews and Slavs from several countries. But a close examination of the Requiem reveals a more universal “statement”; this is not a work about any particular war, but about war itself. The English soldier and the German soldier that are represented, generally speaking, by the tenor and the

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baritone, could be any two soldiers on opposite sides of any conflict in human history.

Liturgy Interspersed with World War I Poetry The English poetry with which Britten “decorates” the standard Latin Requiem liturgy, in fact, derives from a poet of the First World War, not the Second. Wilfred Owen saw war first hand, experienced its terrors, and was killed a week before the end of the Great War. The nine passages from his vivid poems of battle and bloodshed are so perfectly suited to the parts of the Requiem with which they are juxtaposed that one could almost believe they were written for this purpose. “Bugles sang, saddening the evening air,” sings the tenor after the chorus has intoned the “Dies irae” (Day of Wrath), fusing battlefield and Judgement Day into a single, chilling image. And how many passages of 20th-century music can match the jolting shock of the Requiem’s “Quam olim Abrahae,” in which the text that declares the promise of Eternal Light to the descendants of Abraham is set alongside Owen’s singular telling of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac? (This passage seems to address the Holocaust as well.)

The sense of loss that pervades the Requiem derives partly from Britten’s own experience. The composer dedicated the work to the memory of four young men of his acquaintance, three of whom had fallen in the war and the fourth as a result of suicide stemming from the emotional turmoil of the postwar period. Thus reads the inscription: “In loving memory of Roger Burney, Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; Piers Dunkerley, Captain, Royal Marines; David Gill, Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy; Michael Halliday, Lieutenant, Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve.”

A Closer Look The performing forces for the War Requiem are divided into three groups: the full chorus that sings the Latin liturgy, accompanied by full orchestra and occasionally punctuated by the soprano soloist, whose part contains some of the work’s most beautiful music (most notably the “Lacrimosa” and the ravishing “Benedictus”); the tenor and bass soloists, who are accompanied by a small chamber orchestra; and the boys’ choir, accompanied by portable organ, and functioning with the chorus to create a remote, archaic mood. In many cases the forces are interwoven in a seamless synthesis, as when the choral “Lacrimosa,” complete with the accompaniment of full orchestra, is interspersed with bits of Owen’s “Move him into the sun,” a crystal-clear description of a dying soldier sung by the tenor and

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accompanied by the chamber orchestra. (Britten used two conductors for the Coventry performance of the Requiem; passages such as the “Lacrimosa” still present a single conductor with no easy task.)

Britten’s musical idiom here is direct and accessible. Audiences grasp its essential musical “meanings” on a first listening, then find that the Requiem offers up layers of deeper significance upon more thorough acquaintance. The crucial nature of the “tritone” in the work’s opening, for example—the highly dissonant interval that Medieval writers called the “devil in music” (diabolus in musica)—is self-evident and striking, but other important intervals such as seconds and fifths, which come to the fore throughout the piece, are applied with equal vigor.

“Let us sleep now,” sing the tenor and bass, as all of Britten’s forces join for the final passage from the “Libera me” (Deliver me, O Lord): “May the choir of angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, once a pauper, may thou have eternal rest.” The reference to Lazarus is connected to Owen’s final poem here, in which the spirits of the dead English and German soldiers meet and express mutual regret. “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. … Let us sleep now.” The chorus intones, “Requiescant in pace”: Let them rest in peace.

There is an unmistakable tone of hopelessness in Owen’s resignation. The Christian world to which he was born, and in which Britten and his generation functioned, had betrayed him, chiefly through ignoring the precepts of its own faith. Yet Britten has taken this resignation and lent it hope—through the prospect of forgiveness and reconciliation. He inscribes his score with the following passage from Owen:

My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity … All a poet can do today is warn.

—Paul J. Horsley

The War Requiem was composed in 1961.

The first, and only other, Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the work were in October 1993, with soprano Carol Vaness, tenor John Aler, bass-baritone John Shirley-Quirk, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and the American Boychoir; Wolfgang Sawallisch conducted.

The score of the War Requiem calls for soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists; mixed chorus and boys’ choir; a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (III doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets (III doubling E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, piano, organ or harmonium, timpani, percussion (antique cymbals, bass drum, castanets, Chinese blocks, cymbals, glockenspiel, gong, orchestra bells, side drums, tambourine, tenor drum, triangle, vibraphone, whip), and strings; and a chamber orchestra consisting of flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling English horn), clarinet, bassoon, horn, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbal, gong, side drum), harp, two violins, viola, cello, and double bass.

Performance time is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Program note © 2017. All rights reserved. Program note may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association.

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Tickets & Patron ServicesWe want you to enjoy each and every concert experience you share with us. We would love to hear about your experience at the Orchestra and it would be our pleasure to answer any questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone at 215.893.1999, in person in the lobby, or at patronserverices@philorch.org.Subscriber Services: 215.893.1955, M-F, 9 AM-5 PMPatron Services: 215.893.1999, Daily, 9 AM-8 PMWeb Site: For information about The Philadelphia Orchestra and its upcoming concerts or events, please visit philorch.org.Individual Tickets: Don’t assume that your favorite concert is sold out. Subscriber turn-ins and other special promotions can make last-minute tickets available. Call us at 215.893.1999 and ask for assistance.Subscriptions: The Philadelphia Orchestra offers a variety of subscription options each season. These multi-concert packages feature the best available seats, ticket exchange privileges, discounts on individual tickets, and many other benefits. Learn more at philorch.org.Ticket Turn-In: Subscribers who cannot use their tickets are invited to donate them and receive a tax-deductible acknowledgement by calling 215.893.1999. Twenty-four-hour notice is appreciated, allowing other patrons the opportunity to purchase these tickets and guarantee tax-deductible credit. PreConcert Conversations: PreConcert Conversations are held prior to most Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert, beginning one hour before the performance. Conversations are free to ticket-holders, feature discussions of the season’s music and music-makers,

and are supported in part by the Hirschberg-Goodfriend Fund established by Juliet J. Goodfriend.Lost and Found: Please call 215.670.2321.Late Seating: Late seating breaks usually occur after the first piece on the program or at intermission in order to minimize disturbances to other audience members who have already begun listening to the music. If you arrive after the concert begins, you will be seated only when appropriate breaks in the program allow.Accessible Seating: Accessible seating is available for every performance. Please call Patron Services at 215.893.1999 or visit philorch.org for more information.Assistive Listening: With the deposit of a current ID, hearing enhancement devices are available at no cost from the House Management Office in Commonwealth Plaza. Hearing devices are available on a first-come, first-served basis.Large-Print Programs: Large-print programs for every subscription concert are available in the House Management Office in Commonwealth Plaza. Please ask an usher for assistance.Fire Notice: The exit indicated by a red light nearest your seat is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency, please do not run. Walk to that exit.No Smoking: All public space in the Kimmel Center is smoke-free.Cameras and Recorders: The taking of photographs or the recording of Philadelphia Orchestra concerts is strictly prohibited. By attending this Philadelphia Orchestra concert you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes

your consent to such and to any use, in any and all media throughout the universe in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with The Philadelphia Orchestra.Phones and Paging Devices: All electronic devices—including cellular telephones, pagers, and wristwatch alarms—should be turned off while in the concert hall. The exception would be our LiveNote™ performances. Please visit philorch.org/livenote for more information.Ticket Philadelphia StaffLinda Forlini, Vice PresidentRebecca Farnham,

Director, Patron ServicesBrandon Yaconis,

Director, Client RelationsDan Ahearn, Jr.,

Box Office ManagerJayson Bucy,

Program and Web ManagerMeg Hackney,

Patron Services ManagerGregory McCormick,

Training ManagerCatherine Pappas,

Project ManagerMichelle Messa,

Assistant Box Office ManagerAlex Heicher,

Program and Web CoordinatorLindsay Kreig,

Business Operations CoordinatorElizabeth Jackson-Murray,

Priority Services RepresentativeAssistant Treasurers, Box Office:

Tad Dynakowski Patricia O’Connor Thomas Sharkey James Shelley Mike Walsh

Lead Patron Services Representatives: Megan Chialastri Stacey Ferraro Meaghan Gonser Jared Gumbs Danielle Rose

Patron Services Representatives: Rui Dong-Scott Brand-I Curtis McCloud Rachelle Seney