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Composer says his music for 60th anniversary of cathedral aims to break down cultural barriersThe 1962 premiere of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem marked the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral after the original building was destroyed in the Luftwaffe bombing raids of 1940. The monumental choral masterpiece was inspired by the traditional Latin mass and the war poetry of Wilfred Owen, who was killed in the last days of the first world war.Now, as part of Coventry’s city of culture year, leading British composer Nitin Sawhney has been commissioned to compose a requiem to mark the 60th anniversary of the cathedral. Titled Ghosts in the Ruins, it is a work of remembrance for all contemporary conflicts. Continue reading...