Fauré Requiem

Sunday I April 23, 2023 I 5:00 pm

Cathedral of the Annunciation

University Chorus and Pacific Singers

Yejee Choi, director

Igor Veligan, violin

Patricia Grimm, organ

Monica Adams, collaborative pianist featuring Conservatory Instrumentalists and Choral Alums

Six Pieces for Violin and Organ, op. 150 (1888)

I. Theme and Variations

Igor Veligan, violin

Patricia Grimm, organ

Requiem, op. 48 (1893)

Introït et Kyrie

Offertoire

Sanctus

Pie Jesu

Agnus Dei

Libera me

In paradisum

Nicole Ikeda, soprano

Joshua Porter, baritone

Igor Veligan, violin

Bailey LaBrie, Nicholas Trobaugh, Jordan Hendrickson, cellos

Joshua Gutierrez, Noah Gonzales, basses

Jada Ramos, Owen Sheridan, Skylar Warren, horns

Patricia Grimm, organ

Joseph Rheinberger: Six Pieces for Violin and Organ, op. 150

A child prodigy, Joseph Rheinberger was appointed organist in the San Florino Chapel of his hometown in Lichtenstein when he was only seven. In 1867 he became professor of organ and composition at the Munich Conservatory. He published almost 200 musical works in his lifetime, from piano and organ compositions to Masses, chamber music and concert overtures, but he is most celebrated for his twenty organ sonatas. His Six Pieces for violin and organ were published in 1888 in Leipzig and exemplify Rheinberger’s ear for a beautiful melody. Similar to Fauré’s, Rheinberger’s music presents gentle and beautiful part writing opposite the dramatic, resounding music of the Romantic era. His organ music very much informed the compositional style of his choral works. He so eloquently said, “There is no justification for music without melodiousness and beauty of sound. . . . Music never ought to sound brooding, for, basically, it is the outpouring of joy and even in pain knows no pessimism.”

Molly Bolewski

Gabriel Fauré: Requiem, op. 48

Gabriel Fauré was an excellent organist and teacher, having taught at the Madeleine Church in Paris. He served as a professor of composition and then the director of the Paris Conservatoire from 1905 to 1920. As an agnostic he did not subscribe to the religious dogmas of nineteenth-century France. The first iteration of his Requiem, op. 48, premiered in 1888 with five movements and the apparent omission of the “Dies irae” and “Tuba mirum,” liturgical texts that speak of damnation and judgment. Instead, this work weaves together texts portraying perpetual light and eternal rest. Where other composers of his time set a Requiem Mass more dramatically, Fauré was the quiet voice in the room, crafting his “lullaby of death” with subtle and elegant musical language. A reorchestrated and augmented version of the work came in 1893 with two additional movements—the “Offertorium” and “Libera me”—and then a final version in 1900 scored for full orchestra.

The Requiem captures moments of wonder, grief, weightlessness, and grandeur. The opening of the “Introit-Kyrie” creates an ethereal hush before a moving crescendo into “et lux perpetua” (perpetual light), sending us on a sacred journey to the beyond. The “Offertorium” begins in simplicity, with the strings playing a melody that twists and turns upward, permeating the air like incense. Then the unaccompanied altos and tenors emerge, imploring: “O Domine, libera animas defunctorum” (O Lord, deliver the souls of the departed), which develops into the most involved movement in this work. The “Sanctus” has been dramatized by other composers (Berlioz and Verdi) with large instrumentation and robust dynamic contrast. Fauré’s interpretation is sweet and transcendent, with rolling sixteenth notes and the solo violin enhancing the depiction of heavenly scene. The “Hosanna in excelsis” (Hosanna in the highest) bursts forth with triumph before the clouds retreat, ascending back from whence they came—a diminuendo.

The “Pie Jesu” is not typical in a Requiem Mass, but Fauré orchestrated a profound moment with the soprano soloist, highlighting this simple but devout prayer. Much of the movement is performed from a place of stillness, and then a small voice, as if from a great distance, offers a tender supplication. Again, he approaches the next movement more tenderly than other composers, who might write the “Agnus Dei” with more depth and darkness. Instead, he gives the tenors a melody that is almost like coming home, before the sopranos create a breathless moment of light—”light eternal—may it shine upon them.” In addition, he brings back the “requiem aeternam” theme that opened the first movement, re-centering the whole point of the work—eternal rest.

Fauré depicts humble pleading and intense reverence in the baritone solo of the “Libera me,” and a fleeting moment of fortissimo, led by the brass, portraying the “dies irae” (day of wrath). The choir trembles upon their entrance, and in response offers a most somber plea for redemption. In true contrast to the prior movement, but harkening back to the same rhythmic shape of the “Sanctus,” the rolling sixteenths played in the organ of “In paradisum” give us a visual of the heavens. With warm finality, the sopranos paint paradise with gentle strokes, leading us home to eternal rest.

For one who professed agnosticism, Fauré created a very spiritual picture of death and eternal rest—one full of hope and prayerful attention toward what is to come after this life. The message of his 1888 Requiem was amended with the addition of the “Offertorium” and “Libera me” to unveil a maturity and depth of concept that humanity continues to grapple with.

Molly Bolewski

Text and Translation

Introït et Kyrie

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem mean, ad te omnis caro veniet.

Kyrie eleison.

Christe eleison.

Kyrie eleison.

Offertoire

O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae libera animas defunctorum

Introit and Kyrie

Rest eternal grant them, Lord, and may light perpetual shine on them. A hymn becomes you, God, in Zion, and to you may be paid a vow in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, To You all flesh shall come.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Offertory

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the souls of the departed de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu, de ore leonis, ne absorbeat tartarus ne cadant in obscurum.

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. Amen.

Sanctus

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus

Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra Gloria tua.

Hosanna in excelsis.

Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu Domine dona eis requiem; dona eis sempiternam requiem.

Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam requiem, Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternam, quia pius es.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Libera me

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, from the punishment of hell and from the deep pit, from the mouth of the lion, nor may they be absorbed by hell, nor may they fall into darkness. Sacrifice and prayer to You, Lord, in praise we offer: receive for those souls whom today we commemorate. Allow them, Lord, to pass from death to life, which once to Abraham You promised and to his seed. Amen.

Sanctus

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. Full are the heavens and the earth of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Pie Jesu

Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest; grant them everlasting rest.

Agnus Dei Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them everlasting rest. Light eternal—may it shine on them, Lord, with your saints in eternity, You who are merciful. Rest eternal grant them, Lord, and light perpetual—may it shine on them.

Libera me

Deliver me, Lord, from death eternal in that terrible day, when the heavens shall be moved and the earth, when You shall come to judge the world by fire. With trembling I am seized and with fear, until the trial to come, atque ventura ira.

Die illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, dies illa, dies magna et amara valde.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

In paradisum also the coming wrath. That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery that day, great day and exceedingly bitter. Rest eternal grant them, Lord, and light perpetual—may it shine on them.

In paradisum deducant angeli; in tuo adventu Suscipant te martyres et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.

Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro, quondam paupere, aeternam habeas requiem.

In paradisum

To paradise may the angels lead you; at your coming may the martyrs receive you and bring you to the holy city, Jerusalem. may the angel chorus receive you and with Lazarus, once a pauper, eternally may you have rest.