From out of the ashes

IN the City of Three Spires, one keeps watch over the rest. Coventry Cathedral’s medieval tower miraculously survived the Blitz, although the rest of the building wasn’t so lucky. Fragmented archways and broken brick walls shadow the reformed cathedral, which opened in 1962. Architect Sir Basil Spence’s insistence that the rubble should be preserved as part of his mid-century masterpiece is at the centre of Ghosts in the Ruins, a new work by Nitin Sawhney (b. 1964) that will be performed later this month (January 27–29).

The piece was commissioned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the consecration, an event that was also marked with music. Benjamin Britten’s Requiem—created for an Arts festival held after the religious officiation—went on to become one of the great choral works of the 20th century and secured the cathedral’s place in musical history.