Nitin Sawhney: New war requiem marks Coventry Cathedral's 60th year

The 60th anniversary of Coventry Cathedral is being marked by poetry, art and a new war requiem.

Musician Nitin Sawhney has composed the piece for 2021 City of Culture.

Ghosts in the Ruins marks the cathedral's consecration, for which Benjamin Britten's War Requiem was originally created.

The cathedral was built amid the ruins of its previous incarnation, destroyed by German bombs in 1940, and the performance moves between the sites.

The present cathedral has become known for its reconciliation work between the cities of Coventry and Dresden, in Germany.

The new requiem gets its premiere performance, on 27 January.

Art works by Mark Murphy will also be projected onto the walls inside the cathedral.

Britten's War Requiem received its world premiere at Coventry Cathedral in May 1962, conducted by the composer and Meredith Davies as part of the 1962 Coventry Festival.

Coventry City of Culture Trust said this latest piece would explore Coventry's place as a city of peace and sanctuary.

"It seemed the best way to approach this was to work with voices within the new cathedral building as well as the ruins of the original cathedral bombed in WWII," said Sawnhey.

"This is really music about celebrating Coventry and really how Coventry has risen from the ashes of these ruins and from the Second World War and really proceeded in the spirit of hope and reconciliation and peace and resilience and that's very much what the music's about," he said.

The Very Reverend John Witcombe, Dean of Coventry Cathedral, added: "As we begin our Diamond Jubilee year, we are delighted to be working with Nitin, who has a deep appreciation of the significance of Britten's legacy and will help lift it into the next generation."

"Ghosts in the Ruins will be a celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the new Cathedral and allows us another opportunity to remember and reflect on the catastrophic events of WW2 that led to the destruction of the old Cathedral and the synergy with our world today," said Chenine Bhathena, creative director of the trust.

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