''A World Requiem'', Op. 60 is a large-scale symphonic work with soloists and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

s by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

John Foulds. Written as a

requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

and using forces similar in scale to

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

's Eighth Symphony, the work calls for a full symphony orchestra, soloists, massed choirs including children's choirs, offstage instrumentalists and an organ. Foulds wrote the work between 1919 and 1921, and conceived it as a memorial to the dead of all nations in the wake of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The text (in English), assembled by his wife Maud MacCarthy, to whom the score is dedicated, is not liturgical, though it uses sections of the Requiem Mass plus several other Biblical passages as well as excerpts from

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...

's ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant devotional literature and of wider early moder ...

'', a poem by the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

poet

Kabir Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...

and a few passages she wrote herself. There are 20 movements arranged in two parts of 10 movements each, though some movements are quite brief. It was premiered under the auspices of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

on Armistice Night, 11 November 1923 in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

by up to 1,250 instrumentalists and singers; the latter were called the Cenotaph Choir. The soloists were

Herbert Heyner Herbert Heyner (26 June 188218 January 1954) was a noted English baritone. Heyner appeared in a handful of operas, and a number of broadcast operas, but his stage appearances were predominantly in oratorio and songs. He sang in some notable pe ...

, Ida Cooper, Olga Haley and

William Heseltine Sir William Frederick Payne Heseltine (born 17 July 1930) is a former Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. He was in office from 1986 to 1990. Biography Heseltine was born at Wyalkatchem, Western Australia, in 1930. He was educated at ...

. The programme-book for that occasion proclaimed on its cover that the work was 'A

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

in Sound' and it is likely that Foulds wished to present his work as a musical equivalent of the

recently erected in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

and designed by his friend Sir

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

. The performance brought Foulds such popular acclaim that after his death Maud MacCarthy was able to publish a book devoted to the positive responses to the work, though critical reaction was mixed. The work was repeated from 1924 to 1926 and constituted the first Festivals of Remembrance. The vocal score was published by W. Paxton & Co. Ltd., London, whose business was eventually absorbed by the music publishers

Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

. During the period when the work was being performed in the 1920s, Foulds introduced various revisions and modifications. Having lain neglected for eighty years, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in association with the Royal British Legion undertook a revival of the work, performed at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 November 2007. The

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

was joined by soloists Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Catherine Wyn-Rogers,

Gerald Finley Gerald Hunter Finley, (born January 30, 1960) is a Canadian bass-baritone opera singer. Early life Finley was born in Montreal and studied music at St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Ottawa, the University of Ottawa, King's College, Cambridge and ...

and

Stuart Skelton Stuart Skelton (born 1968 in Sydney) is an Australian operatic heldentenor. In 2016 he opened the Metropolitan Opera season with Nina Stemme in Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde''. Discography Studio concert recordings *2008: Mahler – '' Das Li ...

and the BBC Symphony Chorus was joined by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Chorus and Trinity Boys Choir and conducted by

Leon Botstein Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946, in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-born American conductor, educator, historical musicologist, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography Botstein was born in Zürich, Switzerland, ...

. The concert was broadcast live o
BBC Radio 3
(and was streamed online from their site) and was also recorded for later release by

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens./www.kantorei-wetzlar.de/Programm/index.html „Kantorei Wetzlar“ – Programm Website Kantorei Wetzlar. Retrieved 2014-10-11.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worldrequiem, A Compositions by John Foulds 1921 compositions Requiems Cultural history of World War I

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...