Three hundred singers and musicians will make a fiery statement against the senselessness of war on Sunday 4 May, Remembrance Day. The Residentie Bach Choir, together with Toonkunstkoor Utrecht, will perform Benjamin Britten’s impressive War Requiem in concert hall Amare. A message that is all too topical on the eve of eighty years of liberation. Lieutenant general off-duty, Ben Droste, former commander of the Royal Air Force, will hold a short speech followed by two minutes of silence prior to the concert.
Special collaboration between two great choirs
May 5 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Residentie Bachkoor (RBK) commemorates this end with a special collaboration. Together with Toonkunstkoor Utrecht (TKU), the children’s choir of Zangschool Utrecht and a large engaged Promenade Orkest, they will perform the War Requiem by English composer Benjamin Britten. Conductor Jos Vermunt is the musical director of these 300 musicians.
Jos Vermunt’s last season
‘It is also a special concert because we are on one stage with the two choirs conducted by Jos Vermunt, our conductor,’ Regina Oosting, president of the RBK, and Karin van Welt, president of TKU, tell us. ‘This special work is not often performed. It is a long-cherished wish of Jos to sing Benjamin Britten’s work once more with his choirs. It is great that we can realise this wish in Jos Vermunt’s last season with the Residentie Bachkoor.’ Prior to the concert, lieutenant general off-duty, Ben Droste, former commander of the Royal Air Force will give a short speech. Afterwards, war dead will be remembered with 2 minutes of silence.
Madness of War
The War Requiem (1962) is one of the most impressive classical works of the 20th century. Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) wrote the work for the dedication of Coventry Cathedral bombed in the Battle of Britain. After the war, the ruins of the thousand-year-old cathedral were preserved as a war memorial and a modern church was built next to it. Britten, a staunch pacifist, combined the Latin text of the death mass with war poems by the poet Wilfred Owen, who died in the First World War. His poems describe the madness of war in which every soldier is a victim. Nowhere in the War Requiem is the soldier, the battle, the army or the nation glorified. In doing so, Britten made a powerful statement about the futility of war and the importance of reconciliation. He dedicated the work to four war dead.
4 May 19:45 Amare, Spuiplein 150 The Hague
Residentie Bach Choir
Toonkunst Choir Utrecht
Children’s choir Zangschool Utrecht
Symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra of Het Promenade Orkest
Jeannette van Schaik – soprano
Bernard Loonen – tenor
Frans Fiselier – bass
Jos Vermunt – conductor
Tickets: €45.00 (grade 1) / €38.00 (grade 2) / 34.00 ( grade 3) / €29.00 (grade 4) / young people up to 29 years €11.00 / Ooievaarspas 50% discount.
Tickets
www.amare.nl/nl/agenda/3203/herdenking-80-jaar-bevrijding-residentie-bachkoor/war-requiem
The War Requiem is part of The Hague Freedom Weeks 2025.
Featured photo: RBK in Amare – fotocredits: De Schaapjesfabriek