Manchester-based composer creates requiem to honour enslaved Africans
David Önaç uses insurance documents for work funded by Lloyd’s of London after research uncovered its slavery links
TL;DR
- A new musical work, 'Atlantic Requiem,' by composer David Önaç, uses centuries-old insurance documents that detailed the trafficking of enslaved Africans.
- The project was commissioned by the arts and heritage charity Culture& and is sponsored by Lloyd's of London, a historic insurance market involved in insuring enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.
- The 40-minute, five-movement piece combines Catholic liturgy, historic insurance documents, and testimony concerning the killing of an enslaved African woman in 1790.
- The musical style blends contemporary classical composition with jazz, gospel, and other traditions from both sides of the Atlantic.
- Performances during Black History Month will be conducted by Grammy award-winning conductor Malcolm J Merriweather.
- The work draws on research into Lloyd's of London's historical involvement in the slave trade and includes a harrowing account from a 1791 jury testimony about an enslaved woman thrown overboard from the brig *Polly*.
- While acknowledging the suffering, the requiem also celebrates survival and aims for reconciliation and joy.
- Lloyd's of London has acknowledged its historical links to enslavement and launched the 'Inclusive Futures programme' to support Black and ethnically diverse communities.
- The composer sees the work as a commentary on both historical atrocities and modern societal polarization.