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Manchester composer creates requiem from slave insurance documents to honour enslaved Africans

Atlantic Requiem premieres in London, blending Catholic liturgy with historic Lloyd's records and contemporary musical traditions

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
A new requiem composed by Manchester-based David Önaç, drawing on centuries-old insurance documents from Lloyd’s of London that once covered enslaved Africans, will premiere in London this weekend. The 40-minute work, commissioned by the arts and heritage charity Culture&, combines Catholic liturgy, historic insurance records, and testimony about the killing of an enslaved African woman aboard a ship in 1790, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers.

The idea for Atlantic Requiem came from Dr Errol Francis, artistic director and chief executive of Culture&, who was struck by the contradiction of an insurance document for enslaved Africans opening with the words “In the name of God, Amen.” Francis, who served on a steering group overseeing research into Lloyd’s historical role in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people, said he thought the documents could be put to a different purpose. “That was why I thought to myself, ‘Maybe we should write a Requiem Mass, because that would really bring out these contradictions and also use these documents for a different purpose than what they were intended for,’” he said.

The work, sponsored by Lloyd’s, will be conducted by Grammy award-winning conductor Malcolm J Merriweather at LSO St Luke’s during Black History Month. Its musical language fuses contemporary classical composition with jazz, gospel and other traditions from both sides of the Atlantic. Composer David Önaç said he jumped at the opportunity, describing it as “this grand canvas on which I could explore these dual interests, allow the two styles to enrich one another.”

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The requiem reframes historic documents of exploitation into tools of remembrance and reconciliation, offering a new way to confront colonial legacies.
  • Lloyd’s sponsorship of the work signals a continuing engagement with its historical involvement in the slave trade, raising questions about institutional accountability.
  • The performance during Black History Month underscores the ongoing cultural conversation about how to memorialise enslaved people and the role of art in that process.

Background

Culture& is a UK arts and heritage charity that works to diversify cultural narratives. The transatlantic slave trade saw European merchants, including members of the Lloyd’s insurance market, provide coverage for ships carrying enslaved Africans. In recent years, Lloyd’s has acknowledged this history and funded research into its archives. The requiem form, traditionally a Catholic Mass for the dead, has been adapted by composers for centuries; here it is reimagined to include secular testimony and commercial records, highlighting the intersection of faith, commerce and human suffering.

Key Perspectives

[Dr Errol Francis, artistic director of Culture&]: Francis saw the requiem as a way to “bring out these contradictions” – the invocation of God in documents that treated people as cargo – and to repurpose those documents for a memorial purpose. [Composer David Önaç]: He embraced the opportunity to blend musical traditions from both sides of the Atlantic on a grand scale, allowing the styles “to enrich one another.” [Critics/Skeptics]: Some may question whether corporate sponsorship from Lloyd’s, the institution whose members profited from the slave trade, complicates the work’s message. The piece itself does not shy away from the brutality: it includes testimony about the killing of an enslaved woman in 1790.

What to Watch

  • Audience and critical reception of the premiere performances, and whether they spark broader debate about Lloyd’s contemporary role in racial justice initiatives.
  • Potential for further collaborations between Culture& and other institutions with historic ties to the slave trade.
  • How the piece travels – if it is performed again or recorded – and whether it becomes part of the standard repertoire for commemorative events.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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