Deryk Barker replies to me, on the subject of Britten's War Requiem:

>>Well, the immediate hits to me were the first song, "What passing bells"
>
>I'm going to have to register a dissenting vote. I've never found the
>WR particularly engaging or moving.

Okay.  I've never really warmed to Bruckner.  Vanilla and chocolate.

>I also think it's a great pity that Britten effectively pre-empted the
>use by anyone else of the poetry of Wilfred Owen.

Why "effectively?" I don't see why another composer can't set Owen, even
the poems that Britten set.  The only reason that occurs to me is that
Britten set them so effectively, so well that you can't imagine another
setting as good.  Even I, a firm admirer of the WR, don't go *that* far.

Steve Schwartz