Sinfonia da Requiem

Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20, for orchestra is a symphony written by Benjamin Britten in 1940 at the age of 26. It was one of several works commissioned from different composers by the Japanese government to mark the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Empire (taken to be 11 February 660 BCE). The Japanese government rejected the Sinfonia for its use of Latin titles from the Catholic Requiem for its three movements and for its somber overall character, but it was received positively at its world premiere in New York City under John Barbirolli. A performance in Boston under Serge Koussevitzky led to the commission of the opera Peter Grimes from the Koussevitzky Music Foundations.

The Sinfonia is Britten's largest purely orchestral work for the concert hall. It was his first major orchestral work that did not include a soloist and, according to musicologist Peter Evans, marks the peak of his early writing in this idiom. Unlike many of Britten's works from this time, it has remained popular and continues to be programmed on orchestral concerts.

In the early autumn of 1939, Britten was commissioned through the British Consul to write a work for a special festivity by an unspecified great power. Britten agreed in principle to this request, provided that he could dictate the subject and medium used and that he would not be expected to furnish a piece that was in any way jingoistic. Britten eventually learned that the requester was Japan, whose government had requested works by composers from several countries to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the ruling dynasty. At this point, Japan was engaged fully in its invasion of mainland China but had not yet entered World War II formally or become allied with Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. It had also developed a firm acquaintance with Western classical music. Performing groups trained by Western musicians were numerous. Other Western composers who received commissions included Richard Strauss, who was directed to participate by Joseph Goebbels of the Nazi German government, and French composer Jacques Ibert. Along with the Western composers invited, several Japanese composers participated in the anniversary celebrations.

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