Here's something you might be interested in.
I had mentioned that there was a somewhat interesting story about the creation of Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem so let’s take a look at that for a moment.
For the record, Sinfonia da Requiem is a ridiculous title. Sinfonia would have done quite nicely.
The common story is that this piece was commissioned by the government of Japan to celebrate the 2,600th year of the ruling dynasty.
The Japanese also commissioned composers from other countries such as Richard Strauss. Strauss was encouraged to write his piece by propaganda czar Joseph Goebbels.
Britten did receive a commission from the Japanese government in late 1939 but there was a six-month delay between his agreeing to write a piece for the celebration and the arrival of the actual commission.
In the meantime Britten had begun work on the Sinfonia as a memorial to his parents--hence the title.
Britten received the official commission but only had six weeks to fulfill it so he completed the Sinfonia and submitted it as his piece.
The music is hardly celebratory and Britten received a letter accusing him of trying to insult the government of Japan.
Japan is a Buddhist country but Britten’s piece has three movements all of which have Christian titles such as Lacrymosa, Requiem, and so on.
Britten defended his music by claiming he was from a Christian country blah, blah, blah. Britten was 26 years-old at the time and it appears obvious to me that he did a poor job handling his commission.
Who submits a requiem to a celebration? A 26 year-old. Who then defends that as legitimate? A 26 year-old. Would it have been that difficult to change the title to Sinfonia and let music stand on its own?
There is no chorus or soloists in this piece, the section headings are Britten’s invention and do not pertain to anything inherent in the music.
Keep in mind that Japan was not the enemy at this point.
After Pearl Harbor Britain and Japan went their separate ways and even though the Sinfonia da Requiem was not used, Japan allowed Britten to keep the commission payment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3nfZvm59Y
I had mentioned that there was a somewhat interesting story about the creation of Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem so let’s take a look at that for a moment.
For the record, Sinfonia da Requiem is a ridiculous title. Sinfonia would have done quite nicely.
The common story is that this piece was commissioned by the government of Japan to celebrate the 2,600th year of the ruling dynasty.
The Japanese also commissioned composers from other countries such as Richard Strauss. Strauss was encouraged to write his piece by propaganda czar Joseph Goebbels.
Britten did receive a commission from the Japanese government in late 1939 but there was a six-month delay between his agreeing to write a piece for the celebration and the arrival of the actual commission.
In the meantime Britten had begun work on the Sinfonia as a memorial to his parents--hence the title.
Britten received the official commission but only had six weeks to fulfill it so he completed the Sinfonia and submitted it as his piece.
The music is hardly celebratory and Britten received a letter accusing him of trying to insult the government of Japan.
Japan is a Buddhist country but Britten’s piece has three movements all of which have Christian titles such as Lacrymosa, Requiem, and so on.
Britten defended his music by claiming he was from a Christian country blah, blah, blah. Britten was 26 years-old at the time and it appears obvious to me that he did a poor job handling his commission.
Who submits a requiem to a celebration? A 26 year-old. Who then defends that as legitimate? A 26 year-old. Would it have been that difficult to change the title to Sinfonia and let music stand on its own?
There is no chorus or soloists in this piece, the section headings are Britten’s invention and do not pertain to anything inherent in the music.
Keep in mind that Japan was not the enemy at this point.
After Pearl Harbor Britain and Japan went their separate ways and even though the Sinfonia da Requiem was not used, Japan allowed Britten to keep the commission payment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3nfZvm59Y