Key facts
- David Önaç's "Atlantic Requiem" uses historic insurance documents from the transatlantic slave trade.
- The work was commissioned by the arts and heritage charity Culture&.
- Lloyd's of London, the historic insurance market, sponsored the project.
- The 40-minute, five-movement requiem combines Catholic liturgy, insurance documents, and testimony.
- The piece draws on a 1791 testimony about the killing of an enslaved African woman aboard the brig Polly.
- The work aims to acknowledge suffering and survival, not financial redress.
Manchester-based composer David Önaç has created "Atlantic Requiem," a new musical work that transforms historical insurance documents related to the transatlantic slave trade into a memorial for enslaved Africans. The 40-minute, five-movement piece will premiere on Sunday at LSO St Luke’s in London, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers.
Commissioned by the arts and heritage charity Culture& and sponsored by Lloyd's of London, the project grew out of research into the insurance market's historical involvement in the slave trade. Dr. Errol Francis, artistic director of Culture&, conceived the idea of using these documents, which once insured the trafficking of human beings, to create a requiem. The work integrates Catholic liturgy, the historic insurance documents, and testimony concerning the killing of an enslaved African woman in 1790.
Önaç, who is of mixed heritage, described the piece as a grand canvas to explore his dual interests in musical styles from both sides of the Atlantic, combining contemporary classical composition with jazz, gospel, and other traditions. The second movement specifically draws on a 1791 testimony from John Cranston, a crew member, detailing the horrific incident where an enslaved woman suspected of having smallpox was thrown overboard from the brig Polly, commanded by James DeWolf, on the captain's orders.
Francis stated that the requiem acknowledges the suffering and survival of African people, emphasizing it is not about financial reparations but an artistic acknowledgment of historical trauma. Lloyd's of London has acknowledged its historical links to enslavement and has initiated programs to support Black and ethnically diverse communities. Önaç also views the requiem as a commentary on modern societal polarization and segregation.