My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity ...
All a poet can do today is warn.
Wilfred Owen, quoted in War Requiem
With its devastating setting of the requiem mass intercut with the traumatised war poetry of Wilfred Owen, who died in the First World War, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem (1962) is one of the most powerful anti-war statements in the entire musical canon.
Per Boye Hansen, director of Norsk Opera og Ballett, and director Calixto Bieito will discuss their staging of Britten’s work, which is being performed on seven nights in Oslo during September and October.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, will question how much the world of conflict has changed and the continuing relevance of Britten’s message.
This year's Ultima Academy curator Rob Young, author of Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music, sets this beautiful and gripping pacifist oratorio in context of the wider picture of twentieth century British music, and its relevance to this year’s Ultima festival.
Jan Egeland
Calixto Bieito
Per Boye Hansen
Rob Young (moderator)
Artistic performance by Evan LeRoy Johnson and Bjarne Sakshaug.
The panel will be illustrated with slides, musical extracts and clips from Derek Jarman’s 1989 film adaptation starring Sir Laurence Olivier.
In collaboration with DNO&B, Flyktninghjelpen and Norwegian Society of Composers.
Ultima Academy is a series of talks, lectures and panel discussions and is free and open to anyone interested in knowing more about the ideas that underlie this year's festival programme.
