Search begins for the 'boys who sang for Britten'

Sixty years ago, a school choir became part of history when they were featured on Benjamin Britten's historic recording of his War Requiem.

They came from Highgate School in North London, whose renowned boys choir frequently gave premieres of new works.

Their performance helped Britten win two Grammy Awards, but the members were never listed in the credits.

Now a search has been launched to find the choir's surviving members, to celebrate the album's 60th anniversary.

Decca Records has placed an advert in London's Ham & High newspaper, hoping to reassemble the choristers for one last time.

The label recently reissued its recording of War Requiem, having preserved the four, fragile 1963 master tapes by baking them and digitising their contents.

In doing so, they discovered recordings of rehearsals, as Britten himself conducted the soloists, three choirs, ensemble and orchestra.

The composer did not rate his own skill in the studio - but he can be heard teasing the performance he wanted out of the musicians.

"Boys I know it's first thing in the morning but please don't make it sound like it is," he can be heard telling the school choir.

"Don't make it sound nice. It's horrid, it's modern music."

The War Requiem was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, after the original 14th Century building was destroyed in a World War Two bombing raid.

It interweaves the poetry of Wilfred Owen with the words of the Requiem Mass to create a deeply moving and powerful work.

As a recent review in the Sunday Times noted: "For most of the musicians present at the [recording] sessions, war wasn't an entry in a history book but something they had lived through."

The recording won two Grammy Awards for best classical album and best choral performance; and Gramophone magazine called it one of the "most magnetic performances of British music ever put on record".

One of the original choristers who has already been identified is John Rutter - who went on to become an acclaimed composer in his own right.

He said that the boys were positioned on a balcony in the recording studio, with "no knowledge" of how the finished recording would sound.

Nonetheless, he added, "we knew something special was going on".

Other choristers who want to share their memories are invited to email.