Two programmes on BBC4 tonight (29 May)

[Serial_Apologist]

7pm - Britten's War Requiem: Staging a Masterpiece
Behind the scenes of a performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem by the English National Opera to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

8pm - Ghosts in the Ruins
A site-specific performance created by Nitin Sawhney in response to Britten's War Requiem. Staged at Coventry Cathedral on 27 January to mark the 60th anniversary of its consecration - when the War Requiem received its premiere - and featuring original choral music and poetry by local writers. Presented by Nikki Bedi.

[Bryn]

I caught snippets of "Staging a Masterpiece" and will probably watch the whole of it later, via iPlayer, along with "Ghosts in the Ruins". However, when I saw "The ENO are the first company to transform the War Requiem into a dramatised performance" in the blub I thought, "Eh, on the stage, maybe, but can they be totally unaware of what Derek Jarman did with it, using the Decca recording with BB at the helm.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well I have to apologise to anyone who watched these two programmes. What either did in advancing the cause of world peace I have no idea. Total waste of time, effort and money.

[Bryn]

Well I have to apologise to anyone who watched these two programmes. What either did in advancing the cause of world peace I have no idea. Total waste of time, effort and money.

Watch Jarman's film to rectify the situation.

[Serial_Apologist]

Watch Jarman's film to rectify the situation.

Thanks, will do.

[Bryn]

Thanks, will do.

Though I would recommend the DVD, for its better audio quality, there is this:

[Serial_Apologist]

[ardcarp]

Well I have to apologise to anyone who watched these two programmes. What either did in advancing the cause of world peace I have no idea. Total waste of time, effort and money.

I watched them both. Firstly, I'm glad the BBC made an effort towards giving the War Requiem some acknowledgement to the viewing public.* OK, there were too many 'talking heads' and too much arty f***y chat, but at least we got a 'mpvement' at the end. A very acceptable bleeding chunk would also have been the short but highly atmospheric Agnus Dei (tenor solo plus mainly unison choir singing the Latin.) I think the producers' attempts to show violence on stage would have upset Britten, even if their intentions were good. Roderick Williams brilliant as always, and so, of course was Martin Brabbins.

Secondly, having been brought up as a Midlands lad (and one of my parents being involved in an event celebrating the consecration of the new cathedral) I was interested in the interior shots of the building and the projected images. The music was, IMO, banal in the extreme, but I can see that the meditative span of the programme may have enthralled some.

* Especially after a pop-laden Friday and Saturday on BBC 2 and 4.

[Serial_Apologist]

I watched them both. Firstly, I'm glad the BBC made an effort towards giving the War Requiem some acknowledgement to the viewing public.* OK, there were too many 'talking heads' and too much arty f***y chat, but at least we got a 'mpvement' at the end. A very acceptable bleeding chunk would also have been the short but highly atmospheric Agnus Dei (tenor solo plus mainly unison choir singing the Latin.) I think the producers' attempts to show violence on stage would have upset Britten, even if their intentions were good. Roderick Williams brilliant as always, and so, of course was Martin Brabbins.

Secondly, having been brought up as a Midlands lad (and one of my parents being involved in an event celebrating the consecration of the new cathedral) I was interested in the interior shots of the building and the projected images. The music was, IMO, banal in the extreme, but I can see that the meditative span of the programme may have enthralled some.

* Especially after a pop-laden Friday and Saturday on BBC 2 and 4.

Apart from a few exceptions I'm not a fan of Benjamin Britten (I just typed "Britain"!) after Grimes, though parts of the War Requiem are moving, particularly those that are the least derivative such as the Agnus Dei, as you say, ardcarp. I agree too that he would have disapproved of directly portraying violence - the later Britten's aesthetic was more contained, I would say, leaving behind the Expressionism of the war years as if there was no more to be said in that vein. Would he have approved of any staged version of the War Requiem, I wondered.

[ardcarp]

Would he have approved of any staged version of the War Requiem, I wondered.

Probably not. But thanks Bryn for the link to the Derek Jarman film. Watcging/listening now. Britten might have approved of this because:

It was shot in 1988 by the British film director Derek Jarman with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack, produced by Don Boyd and financed by the BBC. Decca Records required that the 1963 recording be heard on its own, with no overlaid soundtrack or other sound effects.

For further info, this on Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britten%27s_War_Requiem_(1963_recording)

[Pulcinella]

Watched the first, but gave up after the Dulce et decorum movement (terribly protracted, and it got nowhere imho) of the second.
I thought that some aspects of the ENO staging were very effective and affecting: the look of wonderment on the lad's (Isaac's) face as the 'angel' started to sing (and Roddy with his dagger), and the coffin procession and folding of the flag during the Lacrimosa, in particular.
Britten may well not have approved, but wasn't the 'violence' on show simply more examples of the futility (which happens to be the title of the poem from which 'Move him' comes) both he and Owen sought to portray in words and music?