I took this photo at Coventry Cathedral recently.

The ‘new’ cathedral was built in 1962 after the old one was completely destroyed a little over 80 years ago.

It happened in November 1940, by the ironically-named ‘Moonlight Sonata’ Luftwaffe raid during World War 2.

Composer Benjamin Britten wrote a ‘War Requiem’, a magnificent piece of music, that was premiered here in 1962, soon after the new Cathedral was built.

In his score, Britten quoted war poet Wilfred Owen:

My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity…
All a poet can do today is warn.

The violin in the picture is by my friend Shehada Shalalda, a luthier from Palestine who has lived through too many wars, but who has transcended that pain to bring beautiful instruments like this into the world.

I snuck a moment or two to play, so that Shehada’s violin could fill the space and enjoy the acoustic. I think it liked it