Composers grapple with the subject of death in myriad ways, most directly through settings of the Requiem Mass or variations thereof. These ruminations come in all shapes and sizes, from the operatic (Verdi) and monumental (Berlioz) to the humanist (Brahms, Britten), celestial (Fauré), and beyond. American composer Jeremy Beck puts an individual stamp on the genre in his Requiem, a piece of tranquil and urgent beauty for chorus and string orchestra that has received an exquisite first recording.

Beck finished the work in 2019, before the pandemic, which means we must hear the music without imposing personal layers of grief on the listening experience. There is ample layering of eloquent lines, in any case, built into this Requiem, which eschews many of the expressive conventions suggested by the Latin texts. Throughout the 11 movements, Beck often goes against the grain, finding fresh means to convey the weighty or hopeful messages, and turning to lyricism rather than overt drama to evoke the verses’ spiritual implications.

Themes recur at key points, as when the luminous lines of ‘Ingemisco’ emerge later in ‘Agnus Dei’, though the texts are far apart in meaning. Elsewhere, Beck binds the strands by juxtaposing staggered choral entrances with warm or rhythmic string statements. Among the moments of striking contrast are the women’s quiet pleading of ‘Cum vix justus sit securus’ interrupted by the men’s fierce outbursts of ‘Rex tremendae majestatis’. String entreaties in ‘Sanctus’ mingle with hushed choral lines that bloom with exhilarating force upon the declarations of ‘Osanna in excelsis’.

Employing two dozen voices and a small complement of strings, Beck achieves an intimate portrait of mourning at once comforting and fervent. Coro Volante, the vocal ensemble devoted to music of living composers, led by Brett Scott bring fine focus and nuance to the score’s varied demands in collaboration with the vivid Cincinnati String Ensemble.