International Bach Academy

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the conductor Helmut Rilling and the Gächinger Kantorei commissioned a requiem from fourteen composers from countries that had played some part in the war. The work was first performed at the Beethoven Hall during the European Music Days in Stuttgart in May 1995 by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Gächinger Kantorei and Cracow Chamber Choir.

The contributing composers were as follows:

Prologue – Luciano Berio (Italy), Introitus and Kyrie – Friedrich Cerha (Austria), Sequentia – Dies Irae Paul-Heinz Dittrich (Germany), Judex ergo – Marek Kopelent (Czech Republic), Juste judex – John Harbison, (USA), Confutatis –  Arne Nordheim (Norway), Interludium – Bernard Rands (UK/USA), Offertorium –  Marc-André Dalbavie (France), Sanctus – Judith Weir (UK), Agnus Dei – Krzysztof Penderecki (Poland), Communio I – Wolfgang Rihm (German), Communio II – Alfred Schnittke (due to the composer’s illness, his contribution was completed by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russia), Responsorium – Joji Yuasa (Japan), Epilogue – György Kurtág (Hungary).

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