Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" in Hiroshima September 2025
This September, members of the acclaimed Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, together with singers from many other UK choirs, will perform Britten’s legendary War Requiem in Hiroshima with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and a boys choir from the city. They will be led by the BSC’s charismatic conductor, Gavin Carr, whose vision underpins the project.
The War Requiem was written for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, following the destruction during the Second World War of the original cathedral - a victim of the blitzing of Coventry.
University of Hertfordshire Oral History is collaborating with the choir, a number of whose members will be keeping diaries of the trip, whether in written, audio, photographic or video form. Collectively these will feature all aspects of the experience, including visits to memorial sites in Hiroshima. The singers are receiving advice on how to compile these diaries from UH senior research fellow, Andrew Green.
The material gathered by the singers will be archived and used to present a multi-faceted account of the Hiroshima visit, available online.
Below, see two links to the documents which have been made available to the singers as aids to keeping these diaries.
FURTHER PROSPECTIVE DIARISTS ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT UH SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, ANDREW GREEN, AT unihertsoh@yahoo.co.uk
Hear Gavin Carr describing sights in Hiroshima on a visit in 2024.
Fergus Urquhart penned some fascinating reflections and personal stories to set the scene for his visit to Hiroshima for the 'War Requiem' performance. Click the link to read this 'Hiroshima Diary Prologue'.
For bass singer Tim Wright, also looking ahead to the Hiroshima trip, see the video below.
Conductor Gavin Carr’s Audio Diary
Many people put enormous quantities of time, energy and enthusiasm into ensuring that all the logistics of the trip to Hiroshima were nailed down in good order. Together, these individuals ensured conductor Gavin Carr’s vision could be realised - that Britten’s War Requiem should at last be heard on one of the most resonant sites in the history of warfare, combining British (and other nationality) singers with Japanese musical forces.
It was an extraordinary demonstration of teamwork throughout.
In this spirit of collaboration, Gavin took part in the project to diarise the trip, recording audio across the week of rehearsals in Hiroshima, then describing the War Requiem performance itself, in Phoenix Hall. Gavin was joined onstage by the large adult chorus, the NHK Tokyo Children’s Choir and two orchestras, plus soloists Hiromi Omura (soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor) and Roderick Williams (baritone) - all of whom feature in Gavin’s diary.
Click here for an edited version of this diary, which starts with Gavin in the city of Kyoto, about to set off for Hiroshima.
Click here to read the moving words of the Japanese soprano Hiromi Omura, one of the soloists in this 'War Requiem' performance.
Hiroshima Diarists Speak
Six of the many singers who have submitted testimony recounting the experience of visiting Hiroshima reflect on how ‘diarising’ enhanced the trip. Please click here to watch the video.