Benjamin Britten in 1968 [Hans Wild]

I’VE  just been out in rural Suffolk for the annual Britten Weekend that runs in the vicinity of Aldeburgh, where the composer lived. The theme this year was Britten in the aftermath of war. And showing at Snape Maltings, the arts centre he established amid the serene beauty of coastal marshlands, is an exhibition of Maggi Hambling paintings that show distorted heads in swirling grimaces of pain and are collectively called War Requiem after one of Britten’s greatest works. A landmark score from the 1960s.

He wrote it for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral which had risen like a symbol of hopeful, post-war Britain from the ashes of its bombed-out predecessor. And rarely in the modern history of music has a single piece had so much impact.

For Britten, as a pacifist, it was a heartfelt statement of the miseries of conflict, written for huge choral and orchestra forces with the original intention to feature soloists from Russia, Germany and England singing the Latin texts of the Requiem Mass alongside pain-laden verse by the First World War poet Wilfred Owen.

As things turned out, that intention wasn’t immediately realised – the Russians wouldn’t cooperate – and Britten’s plea for peace has clearly fallen on deaf ears. But the power of his music remains. War Requiem gets performed internationally. And never more than at this time of year when the world stops to remember its dead.

One example is a performance at All Hallows, Gospel Oak, Nov 15, given by Highgate Choral Society with the New London Orchestra and soloists who will need stamina to project over the sometimes thunderous textures of Britten’s writing as it builds into vast soundscapes that pound like battlefield artillery. But there are also moments of profound, reflective intimacy – not least, in a final prayer for peace so affecting it usually leaves singers/players/audience emotionally overwhelmed. Book at hcschoir.com

• Other big events this week include one of today’s keyboard legends, the formidably inscrutable Yevgeny Kissin, playing concertos by Prokofiev and Scriabin at the Royal Festival Hall, Nov 17: southbankcentre.co.uk

• For a fast-rising contender to legendary status there’s Seong-Jin Cho, whose recent Ravel marathons wowed the world, premiering a new piano concerto by fellow-Korean Donghoon Shin with the LSO, Barbican, Nov 20: barbican.org.uk – and if one pianist at a time isn’t enough, you’ll find two – Mishka Momen Rushdie and Alasdair Beatson – playing four-hand works by Schubert and Ravel at JW3 in the Finchley Road, Nov 16: jw3.org.uk

• Operatically, ENO revives its chic Art Deco house-party staging of Handel’s Partenope Nov 20-Dec 6: eno.org – and if you can face another Carmen, there’s a student staging at the Royal Academy of Music, Nov 18-21: ram.ac.uk – but something to prioritise, if you haven’t already, is ENO’s Dead Man Walking which has a final performance on Nov 15. Playing on a cheaply characterless set, it still manages to be the finest show the company has staged in ages, with a standout cast who propel the story (of a nun befriending a murderer on death row) and score (Jake Heggie at his lyrically engaging best) into the top ranks of the year’s most memorable arts events. Miss this and you’ll regret it. eno.org