 The "War Requiem", first performed on 30 May 1962, was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was built after the original 14th-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid.The reconsecration was an occasion for an arts festival, for which Michael Tippett also wrote his opera "King Priam".Britten, a pacifist and conscientious objector, was inspired by the commission, which gave him complete freedom in deciding what to compose.