Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 12:52AM
#2
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
By the way, give a shot to a newly released recording of the Requiem by Weinberg, with Fedoseyev, on Neos. It's quite impressive, definitely closer to Shstakovich's style rather than Schnittke's unusual and almost bizarre in orchestration (piano, celesta, electric guitars, a variety of strange percussions,etc.) work.
Incidentally, can we refer to the Kleines Requiem fur eine Polka by Gorecki. A small piece for Piano, released on Naxos.
Parla
Parla - I think I like the Schnittke inpart because it is a bit bizarre...
The Weinberg is a piece that will have to wait as I want to try the symphonies first. (My two projects for the year have been Schumann and Russian/Soviet symphonies.)
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 5:58PM
#3
RE: Frank Martin Requiem
Phew! Just listened to the Frank Martin. This is an incredibly powerful work. In the booklet Martin is quoted as saying that his Requiem is an attempt 'to view it (death) straight on with all the anguish, both physical and moral, that it conveys. He also speaks of 'looking face-to-face at what was our life...so full of weakness and failure...' and he mentions the confidence of forgiveness and rest. 'What I have tried to show here is not a depiction of that rest, but the ardent prayer in the hope of it'.
I would say that sums up the feeling I get perfectly. I certainly heard the anguish and the ardent prayer, and these mark it off for me as entirely different to any other Requiem I have thus heard. The Dies Irae was (I never thought I would say this) as terrifying as the Verdi but in a different way, with 'the anguish of the Last Judgement' again quoting from the composer in the booklet. That anguish is quite disturbing, whereas in the Verdi it is the fear of 'the four last things' - an uncomfortable phrase if ever there was one in the RC Church - death, judgement, heaven and hell. I also picked up very strong feelings of the strangeness and mystery of death almost as a 'sub-text' in the Martin as a whole.
There is as you say a great clarity and transparency, and Martin's typical use of dissonance which is never grating. There are some really striking moments - the drums of the Dies Irae, that slow sombre march of the Benedictus, the bells in the Sanctus etc...The harpsichord feels like a ghost of a human presence throughout when you hear it. I particularly liked as well the movement you mention - the Agnus Dei for alto solo and organ, which I felt was the lamb of God in the sense of the lamb (the alto) before God (the organ). Was that Messiaen playing an improvisation there?
I also thought the performance and recording were exceptional.
The Requiem is a particularly fascinating genre because it seems to stand at the interface between life and death in the composer's outlook. It has really become apparent to me that the theme that a composer chooses (not a musical theme) is pivotal, and there is an entirely different theme in the Faure as to the Martin.
Parla I have just ordered earlier today the Ropartz you mention - if anyone else is interested it is on Ropartz page one on Amazon.
So many good suggestions to explore thankyou DST. Must have a listen to Stravinsky and you've got me interested in the Pfitzner. I have the Gorecki - on Nonesuch with the piece Good Night also included - In Memoriam Michael Vyner - strangely scored for soprano, alto flute, 3 tam-tams and piano.
Mark
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 6:45PM
#4
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Mark, I'm delighted that you found the Martin Requiem so powerful, and I very much liked your fine account of it. I don't know how widely the feeling is shared, but for me the main reason for reading this forum is to learn about the listening experiences of others. I appreciate both the discoveries (e.g. the Delius - soon!) and the sense of how others respond to pieces we may know in common.
The mention of the other Górecki piece reminds me that when Michael Vyner died in 1989 there was a big memorial concert broadcast on Radio 3, commemorating his years running the London Sinfonietta - pretty much a requiem in its own right.
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 11:15PM
#5
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Going a bit further to this century, maybe the newest productions in this medium are the Requiem by Bob Chilcott (2010) and Lazarus Requiem by Patrick Hawes.
Bob Chilcott is a former member of the King's Singers and he has been developed to an interesting composer, particularly of choral works. The interesting thing about his music is the very appealing and easy to remember tunes along with a "supple" musical language. His Requiem is almost obviously modelled after Faure's (one more), with a superbly lyrical and meditative Pie Jesu for solo soprano. It was released this March, on Hyperion, with Welsh Cathedral Choir under Matthew Owens.
The Lazarus Requiem combines the liturgical text of a Classical Mass of the Dead with the story of Lazarus. It's a very "original" work of this genre, where the soloists tell the story of Lazarus. Elin Manahan Thomas is exquisite as Mary, while Thomas Walker sings the role of Jesus movingly. An unexpectedly modern (relatively minor) masterpiece. It was released this April by Signum.
On the other side of the spectrum, we should not forget an almost completely neglected masterpiece of the French Master Eustache Du Caurroy and his austere superb work of the polyphonic style of writing, his Requiem des rois de France (around 1600). It exists in a very convincing recording of Naive, with Denis Raisin Dadre and the Ensemble Doulce Memoire.
Parla
Wed, Jun 20 2012, 3:38AM
#6
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Has anyone mentioned Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Symphony No.1 "In search of a Requiem". It stretches the boundaries of the thread a bit as the text are extracts from Whitman. Hartmann was, from the little I have read, a scrupulous tinkerer and the
score went through various guises until the final version.
I find it a curious piece. For me it sounds a little dated now - and a touch worthy. Anybody think different?
Wed, Jun 20 2012, 1:34PM
#7
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
My pleasure DST. As I said to Chris about Penderecki's symphonies, and I am echoing your comments above, it's one of the great pluses that we can share our thoughts about the music, both factual information and our responses to it. It's not just about argument on this forum (in the intellectual sense of argument!) Thanks for your post on the Pizzetti opera. Another one to put on the list!
I've got lots to listen to at the moment, what with these Requiem suggestions and the new Rattle Bruckner 9, and Chris is still waiting for some Debussy talk!
Naupilus I don't know the Hartman, but you've got me interested in the Schnittke Requiem. Just found two versions, one on Naxos and one on Amazon...think I will go for the one paired with Gorecki's Miserere on Amazon.
Mark
Wed, Jun 20 2012, 1:50PM
#8
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Your comments about the Schnittke Requiem (Mark and Naupilus) rang a bell in the ancient mind, that perhaps I had heard it once at the Proms. Sure enough, it was with the London Sinfonietta in 1991! It did make an impression then - enough for your brief comments to revive the memory. Thanks both!
Chris
Wed, Jun 20 2012, 7:12PM
#9
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Tonight I am going to dig out my copy of Howard Hanson's 4th Symphony "Requiem" and also take some time to reaquqint myself with Liszt's version. I seem to remember not being too impressed last time but maybe a break will give me fresher ears.
Thu, Jun 21 2012, 2:31AM
#10
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Naupilus - wow, another great catch with the Hartmann (got me digging back into my old Wergo set of the symphonies) and a thoughtful point. If by "worthy" you mean "dutiful" or "uninspired", I wonder if I could suggest a different take. Over the years I've found this composer's work always absorbing and fascinating, but also somehow withdrawn, not readily communicative, much harder to get to grips with than more showily "difficult" music. Maybe the Nazi-era environment is relevant. Going back to this symphony - yes, the first movement (explosive percussion opening, jaggedly expressionist vocal writing) is perhaps "dated," but thereafter, and especially in the purely orchestral third-movement variations, I find the piece quite gripping. I think "Essay at a Requiem" is the last title it got, after the tinkerings you mention? My (small and strange) DVD collection includes a Stuttgart production of Hartmann's opera Simplicius Simplicissimus, which is connected musically with the First Symphony - well worth looking up if you don't know it!
Thu, Jun 21 2012, 1:54PM
#11
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Hi all. Just found this amazing website:
Requiemsurvey.org
Has hundreds of suggestions. And one, how could I forget, that I heard in 2007 at the proms when Knussen conducted his Requiem - Songs for Sue opus 33. (His wife Sue sadly died at the young age of 53 back in March 2003). The performers were the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Claire Booth - a late night prom which also included the Webern Five Pieces.
The short 12 minute work was very striking and deeply felt, and sets 4 texts - Emily Dickinson, Machado, WH Auden and Rilke. I don't know if it has yet been recorded?
Anyway everyone there are all kinds of suggestions on that website by dozens of composers I have never heard of!
Mark
Forgot to add - the only drawback with this site is that instrumental ones are not included and we have some suggestions here with the Britten Sinfonia da Requiem and the Henze and Hanson?
Thu, Jun 21 2012, 10:55PM
#12
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Mark, the site looks very comprehensive and impressive. However, none can be complete. They miss a very rare Messa da Requiem of an obscure Italian female composer named Marianna Bottini (1802-1858). Her Requiem exists in a recording of the Ialian label La Bottega Discantica.
We keep learning, researching, exploring. It's such a fascinating and spiritually rich world the one of Classicsal Music.
Parla
Thu, Jun 21 2012, 11:52PM
#13
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
She's there as Marianna Motroni Andreozzi-Bottini, under M. This "survey" is quite something - lists a lot of items (e.g. specific Lieder) that I hadn't thought to consider in this way.
Fri, Jun 22 2012, 7:56AM
#14
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Mark,
The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, again with Claire Booth and conducted by the composer, performed Knussen's "Requiem - Songs for Sue" again in Birmingham in March 2011 and it was recorded in the days immediately following that for NMC. I understand the resulting CD will be released before the end of 2012.
Interestingly they also performed it again only last Sunday, in Snape Maltings as part of the Aldeburgh Festival, but with Dawn Upshaw as soloist, and it was fascinating to hear how much her interpretation differed from that of Claire Booth. It was not a case of saying one was better than the other - they were both superb - but very different.
Alan
Fri, Jun 22 2012, 1:52PM
#15
RE: Requiem: hundreds ways to sing it in the centuries
Thanks Alan for that info. on Knussen - much appreciated. I have been a fan of his since the first piece I heard by him - the Third Symphony on Unicorn. I think he has a particular liking and feel for the soprano voice - a number of his works have used it, including the lovely 2nd Symphony which I also have on unicorn vinyl, settings of poems by Plath and Trakl (strictly speaking it is a high soprano role this one). The same album also includes Trumpets for soprano and three clarinets. There are numerous other works using soprano in his official opus list - including Ocean de Terre, Rosary Songs and Whitman Settings.
Knussen is a very meticulous composer who slows his process right down - hence the six year period spent on the Third Symphony. Although on the one hand it makes for fastidious music I have always wished he were a bit more prolific! There is a recent interview with him in I think the other magazine - you know the liberal one from June. I've leant a stack of recent mags to my dad so hopefully memory serves. In this interview he does speak of a little frustration at the time spent on his teaching and conducting over the years and laments a little that he is only up to about 35 opuses, what with the other work he does combined with his fastidious approach. I think he wants to get up to about 50 works in his list eventually!
Just found also from Wiki a link to an article that appeared in The Guardian in 2006 about the Requiem called 'I had to write it'. I would imagine a Requiem for one's wife to be a particularly heartbreaking process of composition. A very brave decision by him therefore.
Glad you like it. Good news thanks about its impending release on CD.
DST/Parla - the site is really a set of several lists with some information also. Still useful I think as within each period the lists are in chronological order. Interesting to note some fragments of a work by Koechlin in this genre. Also the mention of the 2 movements by Lutoslawski. Again, if memory serves, from Charles Bodman Rae's book, these 2 movements are fragments of an unfinished Requiem from his student days. It's interesting because Lutosalwski didn't write any religious works, secular only I think, after that.
I take your point also DST - apart from the ommission of instrumental works there are some on there that are songs are short pieces rather than fully-fledged Requiems.
Regards all
Mark
PS The Ropartz Requiem has arrived this am - also with a setting of De Profundis and a Missa Breve.
I had to write it – G2 section, The Guardian, London, 19 October 2006
Naupilus, I do hope you get a chance to hear the Wetz. Pfitzner, oh well - I started as what Andrew Porter wonderfully calls a "'Palestrina' nut" (he admits to being one). Hope the sweet venom settles in! I have, alas, only heard Schnittke's Requiem once - I'm more familiar with other things of his.
The Górecki is a good catch, Parla - not to go pedantic, but it's for piano and a 13-instrument ensemble, so maybe your post got clipped. It's certainly compelling!