Requiem Music has accompanied the rites and rituals of death since earliest times, both to heighten the emotion of the occasion and to reinforce the pattern of ceremonies, formal and informal, dedicated to mourning and remembering the dead. In the Christian tradition, the liturgy of the Mass and settings of devotional and biblical texts depicting grief and lamentation – the Stabat mater describing Mary’s emotions at the foot of the cross, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the verses in the Second Book of Samuel on David’s sorrow at the deaths of his friend Jonathan (‘How have the mighty fallen’) and son Absalom (‘Absalon fili mi’, ‘When David heard’) – assisted in the process of coping with the loss of a loved one through contemplation of religious exemplars. Secular texts, even those which involve pagan subject matter, such as the poem set by Josquin in the Déploration for his friend Johannes Ockeghem, were equally effective as palliatives to sorrow; or, as with Berg’s Violin Concerto, dedicated ‘To the memory of an angel’ – Manon, the daughter of his friend Alma Mahler Gropius – the music itself, unmediated by textual associations, serves this consolatory function. The Requiem Mass developed out of the performance of Eucharistic Mass and by the ninth century CE had acquired a specific format for the remembrance of the dead. Taking its name from the opening words of its introductory section, ‘Requiem aeternam’, it retained the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei sections of the Mass Ordinary (which was performed on a daily basis) and replaced the Gloria and Creed with liturgical texts specific (or ‘Proper’) to its function. These were introduced over a long period of time in a process of accretion (and not always set in all versions): the Introit, sung as the priests process to the altar, whose opening words, ‘Requiem aeternam dona eis’, are derived from the Apocryphal Fourth Book of Esdras; the Kyrie, whose Greek text testifies to its early origins; the Gradual, dating from the ninth century, with alternative texts ‘Requiem aeternam’ and ‘Si ambulem in medio umbrae mortis’, the latter suppressed during the standardisation process initiated by the Council of Trent in the 16th century; the Tract, whose original text, ‘Sicut cervus’, was also replaced by ‘Absolve, Domine’ after Trent; the Sequence – a 12th-century hymn opening with a memorable eight-note figure, ‘Dies irae dies illa’, which, providing an apocalyptic commentary on the Last Judgement, is the longest and most diverse section of the Requiem and whose dramatic content and abrupt contrasts were to provide a fertile source of inspiration for composers, particularly those of the Romantic period; the Offertory,
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originally sung while the congregation was making its offerings at the altar; the Sanctus and Benedictus, both of ancient origin and deriving their texts from Isaiah and Matthew respectively; the short text of the Agnus Dei, whose threefold repetition was established by the 10th century; the Communion, recapitulating material from preceding sections, ending on the ‘Pie Jesu’ verses from the Sequence (which were often set separately); the Responsory, ‘Libera me’ (taken from the Office of the Dead), usually sung over the coffin after the formal service was over (and formally incorporated into the Requiem Mass in the 14th century); and In Paradisum, derived from the parable of Lazarus and Dives in the Gospel of St Luke. A Requiem Mass (Missa pro defunctis) is sung on the occasion of the funeral of specific individuals and its anniversaries, or sung on a regular basis for the salvation of their souls, while the Office for the Dead (Officium pro defunctorum), although using some of the same materials, is performed according to an established pattern as part of the annual liturgical cycle and has no necessary application to specific deceased persons, although it can be used as an occasion to send up prayers for or in remembrance of them (much of the material on CD1 comprises settings of material from the Vespers and Matins of the Officium). Until the 12th century, virtually all liturgical music was based on the monophonic chants to which Pope Gregory the Great, who codified them in the late sixth century, gave his name. From that time onwards, however, polyphony was gradually introduced into settings of the Mass Ordinary (although not its core texts until the beginning of the 14th century), but seemed to take much longer to be applied to the Requiem, possibly because its purpose was deemed inappropriate for innovation. The first reference to a polyphonic Requiem is in the will of Guillaume Dufay of 1474 – unfortunately the work he requested for his funeral service does not survive – and the earliest extant example is by his younger contemporary Johannes Ockeghem (CD2). This comprises the first four sections and Offertory (the Sequence had not yet been established as an integral part of the Requiem) with the Gradual and Tractus setting the older texts ‘Si ambulem’ and ‘Sicut cervus’. Its alternation of plainchant and polyphony served as a model for his immediate successors, who included more sections but avoided significant stylistic innovation, this conservative approach becoming characteristic of Requiem music of all periods, which tends to gravitate towards the styles of preceding eras. It was not until the early 17th century that instrumental accompaniments were introduced – the first recorded instance being in 1621 for the funeral Mass of Cosimo II de’ Medici, to which Monteverdi contributed a section – that the music of the Requiem became more elaborate and, rather than serving simply as an accompaniment to the
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text, often took on an equal or even greater prominence, such that verses of the text are repeated as often as necessary to suit the structure of the music. The Reformation had a profound effect on religious approaches to death across Europe. Although the Lutheran and Anglican churches retained the substance of the traditional Mass in slightly modified forms, reformed teaching on the fate of the soul after death and a rejection of the concept of purgatory meant that it was no longer necessary or theologically valid to perform special Masses for the salvation of their souls. This led to a musical schism between the Catholic nations, particularly Italy and Spain, which saw a proliferation of Requiems in the Renaissance and Baroque traditions, and those following the reformed faith in which parallels to the old liturgical forms had to be devised. Heinrich Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien of 1636 (CD4), created for the funeral of Prince Heinrich Posthumus of Reuss-Gera, is described as a ‘deutsche Begräbnis-Missa’ – a German funeral Mass – and sets various scriptural texts interspersed with religious verses by Luther and others. Its first two parts are introduced by plainchant sections referred to as Kyrie and Gloria paraphrases, while the third – ‘Herr, nun lässest du’ – is the equivalent of the Nunc dimittis from the Mass Ordinary (in what seems a deliberate disassociation from the format specific to the Requiem). Similarly, Henry VIII’s break with the Church of Rome led to the creation of an alternative English liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, which prescribed formulae and texts to be spoken and sung at the daily round of services and baptisms, marriages and funerals. When Henry Purcell, in his role as organist of Westminster Abbey, was given the task of organising the music for the funeral of Queen Mary, wife of William III, he included anthems on the prescribed prayer book texts (from the book of Job – ‘Man that is born of a woman’): either his own settings or, as some now believe, earlier versions by Thomas Morley, although he certainly wrote the hauntingly memorable C minor Funeral March for slide trumpets which preceded and ended the service (CD2). It is hardly surprising that neither Bach nor Handel, given the locations where they spent their working lives, composed a Requiem, although the omission of the devout Joseph Haydn, an otherwise diligent composer of Masses, to do so perhaps is (although his brother Michael wrote two). It is the Requiem by (or partly by) Mozart (CD5), now one of the most frequently performed, which stands as the great 18th-century example of the genre. It is well established that the anonymous but well-remunerated commission Mozart received in the spring of 1791 came from Count von Walsegg, who wished to commemorate the anniversaries of his recently deceased young
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wife with a Requiem Mass, which he probably intended to pass off as his own composition. When Mozart died, leaving the work unfinished, his widow Constanze, who needed to collect the full fee, handed it first to Joseph Eybler and then to Franz Xaver Süssmayr for completion (although it is probable that two other composers were also involved). Only the Introit is fully complete and orchestrated in Mozart’s hand, and the exact extent to which he may have communicated his intentions for the remainder of the work, either in the form of sketches or verbal instructions, can never be established. There is an autograph of the vocal parts and the continuo line for most of the Sequence and part of the Offertory but their orchestration and the entire substance of the work from the Sanctus onwards was the responsibility of others, most probably Süssmayr. However, regardless of the precise authorship of what became K626, it is a work designed to fulfil a liturgical purpose in modest ecclesiastical surroundings (the Introit and Kyrie were supposedly played at Mozart’s own memorial service within a few days of his death) but which is now almost always heard in the secular context of concert performance. Prior to its delivery to Walsegg, it was performed at a benefit concert for Constanze in Vienna, and it was then published commercially, thus setting a pattern for the future, when Requiems became divorced from their liturgical function and often required orchestral and choral forces that rendered church performance impractical, if not impossible. This is certainly the case as regards Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts (CD9–10), which was commissioned by the French state in 1836 without any specific memorial function, although eventually a memorial service for a general who had recently died on active service in Algeria became the excuse for its first performance under the dome of the chapel of Les Invalides. Although relatively austere in certain sections – notably the unaccompanied ‘Quaerens me’ and the contrapuntal fugue of the Hosanna – Berlioz conceived the work on a massive scale for a choir of 400 and huge orchestral forces including 12 horns and 16 timpani, augmented by four brass choirs to be located at the four corners of the orchestra (with the result that, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is rarely performed!). While the death of the obscure general Damrémont was very much ancillary to the genesis of the Grande Messe des morts, it was the demise of a very famous man – indeed of more than one – that provided the impetus behind Verdi’s Messa da Requiem (CD11–12). When Rossini died in 1868, Verdi collaborated with twelve other Italian composers to create a Requiem in his memory, his contribution being the final ‘Libera me’ section. However, although completed the following year in
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time for the Rossini anniversary, it was never performed, so Verdi was able to use a slightly adapted version of the existing ‘Libera me’ as the conclusion to his own Requiem for the author Alessandro Manzoni, whom he greatly admired. It received its first performance in 1874 in the church of San Marco, Milan, and was repeated a few days later at La Scala – which, given the work’s essentially operatic nature, was an entirely appropriate venue; its Paris and London premieres were at the distinctly secular Opéra-Comique and Royal Albert Hall respectively. Dvorˇák’s Requiem (CD6–7) not only had no commemorative purpose whatsoever, it was also commissioned specifically for concert performance at the Birmingham Festival of 1890 and was conveniently divided into two parts to allow an audience intermission. While the devoutly Catholic Dvorˇák had no problems setting the standard Requiem text, the Protestant Brahms (CD8) followed Schütz’s example in compiling a sequence of texts from the Lutheran bible in parallel to but not imitating the Mass, with the term ‘Requiem’ now used in a purely metaphorical sense. Although the work was profoundly influenced by the death of his mother during its composition, that event does not seem to have been the primary impetus for its creation, which seems to have been as a general meditation on death and consolation for the living. Both Berlioz and Verdi attracted criticism for their grand symphonic and operatic settings, which were deemed inappropriate to the function of the Requiem Mass, and Fauré set out to restore it to a small-scale liturgical context. Although he had no individual in mind when he began work, the first performance of his Requiem (CD13) in its original form was at the funeral of an architect Joseph Lesoufaché, at the Madeleine church in January 1888. This version – for a small choir of boys and men only (no female choristers were permitted at the Madeleine) and limited orchestral forces – comprised only the Introit, Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum. He later added the Offertory and Libera me sections (the latter already composed as a separate piece in 1877) and this expanded version with increased orchestral forces was performed again at the Madeleine in 1893 (although exact performing details of this version are unclear). Having been persuaded to adapt the work for concert performance and commercial publication, he recast it for mixed choir and reorchestrated it (or possibly allowed others to do so on his behalf), and it is this final version of 1900 which is most often heard today. Although it is far from Fauré’s original concept of an intimate piece for church performance, it remains the gentlest of all settings of the Requiem text, from which the terrors of death and judgement have been removed, and as a result is one of the most popular with modern audiences.
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The horrific slaughter of the First World War did not immediately prompt the creation of any significant Requiem (apart perhaps from Reger’s, and Delius’s rarely performed Requiem of 1916, dedicated ‘to the memory of all young artists fallen in the war’, which was actually begun in 1913). Half a century later, however, when Benjamin Britten composed his War Requiem (CD15–16) for the reconsecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed in bombing raids in 1940, he chose to place nine poems by Wilfred Owen – perhaps the most significant literary works to come out of the 1914–18 war – between the standard Requiem sections, quoting on its title-page Owen’s famous line, ‘My subject is War, and the pity of War’. It is designed as a work of reconciliation between the opposing nations of the Second World War represented by the three original soloists Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Galina Vishnevskaya (although in the event the Soviet authorities prevented her from travelling to the UK for the premiere). He dedicated the War Requiem to friends who had died in the war, so the work had a specific personal commemorative function for Britten as well as standing as a memorial to the dead of all wars. David Moncur, 2015
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Requiem
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Introit
Sequentia [Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Verdi, Pizzetti, Britten] Dies irae, dies illa, solvet saeclum in favilla, teste David cum Sibylla.
Sequence
Quantus tremor est futurus, quando judex est venturus, cuncta stricte discussurus!
How great the trembling shall be when the Judge shall come, by whose sentence all shall be bound!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum, per sepulchra regionum, coget omnes ante thronum.
The trumpet, sending its wondrous sound through the tombs in every land, shall bring all before the throne.
Day of wrath, day of mourning, earth in smouldering ashes lying, so spake David and the Sibyl.
Introitus [Ockeghem, Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi, Pizzetti, Puccini, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. There shall be singing unto Thee in Sion, and prayer shall go up to Thee in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, unto Thee all flesh shall come. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Mors stupebit et natura, cum resurget creatura, judicanti responsura.
Death shall stun and nature quake when all creatures rise again to answer to the Judge.
Graduale [Cherubini, Dvorˇák] Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. In memoria aeterna erit Justus, ab auditione mala non timebit.
Gradual Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. He shall be justified in everlasting memory, and shall not fear evil reports.
Liber scriptus proferetur, in quo totum continetur, unde mundus judicetur.
The written book will be brought forth in which all is recorded, whence the world shall be judged.
Graduale [Ockeghem] Si ambulem in medio umbrae mortis non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es, Domine. Virga tua et baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt.
Gradual Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Judex ergo cum sedebit, quidquid latet apparebit, nil inultum remanebit.
Therefore, when the Judge shall be seated nothing shall be held hidden any longer, no wrong shall remain unpunished.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, quem patronem rogaturus, cum vix justus sit securus?
What shall I, a poor sinner, say? What patron shall I entreat when even the just need mercy?
Tractus [Ockeghem] Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.
Tract As a hart longs for the flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.
Rex tremendae majestatis, qui salvandos salvas gratis, salva me, fons pietatis.
King of tremendous majesty, who sends us free salvation, save me, fount of mercy!
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Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae viae, ne me perdas illa die.
Remember, kind Jesus, that I caused thy earthly course. Do not forget me on that day.
Quaerens me, sedisti lassus: redemisti crucem passus; tantus labor non sit cassus.
Seeking me, Thou sat down weary, redeemed me on the cross of suffering; such labour should not be in vain.
Juste Judex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante diem rationis.
Righteous Judge of retribution, grant the gift of absolution before the day of reckoning.
Ingemisco tamquam reus, culpa rubet vultus meus; supplicanti parce, Deus.
I groan, as one who is accused; guilt reddens my cheek; spare Thy suppliant, O God.
Qui Mariam absolvisti, et latronem exaudisti, mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Thou who absolved Mary, and hearkened to the thief, hast given hope to me.
Preces meae non sunt dignae, sed tu, bonus, fac benigne, ne perenni cremer igne.
My prayers are worthless, but Thou, who art good and kind, rescue me from everlasting fire.
Inter oves locum praesta, et ab hoedis me sequestra, statuens in parte dextra.
With Thy sheep give me a place and from the goats keep me separate, placing me at Thy right hand.
Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis: voca me cum benedictis.
When the wicked have been confounded, doomed to the devouring flames, call me with the blessed.
Oro supplex et acclinis, cor contritum quasi cinis, gere curam mei finis.
I pray, supplicant and kneeling, my heart crushed almost to ashes; watch o’er me in my final hour.
Lacrymosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce Deus: pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen.
Tearful that day shall be when from the ashes shall arise guilty man to be judged. Spare him then, O God; gentle Lord Jesus, grant him eternal rest. Amen.
Offertorio [Ockeghem, Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] [O] Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu. Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
Offertory
Versus [Mozart] Hostias et preces tibi Domine, laudis offerimus. Tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam facimus. Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
Verse A sacrifice of praise and prayer, O Lord, we offer Thee. Accept it in behalf of those souls we commemorate this day. Let them, O Lord, pass from death to life, as you promised Abraham and his seed.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, free the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the deep pit. Free them from the lion’s mouth, lest hell devour them or they fall into darkness; let the standard-bearer, St Michael, lead them into the holy light, as you promised Abraham and his seed.
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Sanctus [Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi, Pizzetti, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth, pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis!
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest!
Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis!
Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!
Pie Jesu [Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Fauré, Duruflé] Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Pie Jesu Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest.
Agnus Dei [Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi, Pizzetti, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Agnus Dei
Lux aeterna [Mozart, Cherubini, Dvorˇák, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi, Fauré, Duruflé] Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
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Sanctus
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest. Lux aeterna Let eternal light shine upon them O Lord, with Thy saints for ever, for Thou art merciful. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. With Thy saints for ever, for Thou are merciful.
Libera me [Verdi, Pizzetti, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda, quando coeli movendi sunt et terra, dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira. Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.
Libera me Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that dreadful day, when the heavens and the earth shall be moved, when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. I am full of fear and I tremble, awaiting the day of account and wrath to come. When the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
Dies irae, dies illa, calamitatis et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde. Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
Day, of wrath, day of mourning, day of calamity, and misery, that day great and most bitter. when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda, quando coeli movendi sunt et terra, dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that dreadful day, when the heavens and earth shall be moved, when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
In Paradisum [Fauré, Duruflé, Britten] In Paradisum deucant te Angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
In Paradisum Into Paradise may the Angels lead thee: at thy coming may the Martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.
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Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam pauper aeternam habeas requiem.
May the choir of Angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, once poor, mayest thou have eternal rest.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the rest in peace. Amen.
Also available on Brilliant Classics
J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor 95110 2CD
Laudario di Cortona No.91 94872 4CD
Rossini: Petite Messe solennelle 94459 2CD
Sardelli: Sacred Music 95068
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