Learning to fly: Liberating aerial dance

Music for 21st century grief

In November, our thoughts turn more than ever to loved ones we have lost. While there is a great deal of religious music dedicated to commemorating death, the Secular Requiem by Truro composer Russell Pascoe is a moving alternative and is due for release on CD on November 11 - Remembrance Day – in a recording by Truro Cathedral Choir, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and soloists Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Julien Van Mellaerts.

Originally commissioned for the Three Spires Singers, Russell's score accompanies texts compiled by Prof Anthony Pinching, who drew from the works of Dylan Thomas, Wilfred Owen, Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, Thomas Hardy and Rabindranath Tagore. It was first performed at the cathedral in 2019, to a standing ovation, after which choir members travelled to London at their own expense to sing at the Cadogan Hall.

As Truro Cathedral Choir has a prestigious recording contract – recent output includes collection of work by Philip Stopford - plans were hatched to record the work alongside an 18-minute Remembrance piece written by Russell to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War (which were performed on Armistice Day 2018 to a packed cathedral ahead of a mass poppy drop from the ceiling). Recording was delayed by the pandemic hit, but choir and orchestra finally gathered in May this year.

Russell points to the fact that while Cornwall once boasted 700 Methodist chapels and 627 churches, many have been deconsecrated and converted into homes and businesses. Recent surveys have shown that more than half of UK participants identify as 'non-religious'. “We seem to be moving into more secular times, and yet most music about death involves religion,” says Russell. “I thought there was a place for something that reflected the new belief system. My work is aimed at being inclusive, appealing to those with faith or without.”

The great masterpieces that form the cornerstone of the classical repertoire – Faure, Verdi, Mozart – come from a certain time and place, when composers were paid by the church and tended to set religious texts, often in Latin - ‘requies’ is simply Latin for ‘rest’.

In contrast, the Secular Requiem is in English. “I wanted to connect to people today, and I think classical music needs to move into this area if it’s going to keep its appeal,” Russell continues.

“Several people have already had parts of my Requiem played at their funerals, and others plan to. That’s a great honour, as is having my work recorded by a significant orchestra and world-class soloists for the first time. It’s absolutely thrilling, and I hope this will be a breakthrough for my music getting over the Tamar.”

Christopher Gray is musical director of both the Three Spires and the cathedral choir, and a great friend of the composer. While he and Russell approach faith from opposite ends of the spectrum, he is perhaps the work’s greatest advocate. "Russell is writing in response to his life experience in Cornwall, and I have lived this piece with him,” he says.

The big masses are sure to remain popular with choral societies and their audiences. “While these still speak to us today, sensibilities have changed,” says Chris. “We can’t sing this piece in a service, but it isn’t anti-religion. If anything, it appeals to the idea of community – that's very Russell.”

I attended the recording in May, and watched Russell follow the music with an enormous score. Young choristers worked into the evening, having risen early for a full school day with wraparound choral practice. During breaks, they would yawn or check their smartphones, like normal kids.

In the crypt, Gary Cole of Regent Records and his engineers are choosing the best takes to be stitched into a full movement for the best results – technical wizardry, and not without its challenges. “Every time you do a take, it needs the same energy and drive as if it were the first time, which is especially hard for the younger ones,” he says.

The magnificent edifice rang to beautiful words, many familiar and all instantly identifiable. The work runs the gamut of emotions, from grief and loss to acceptance and celebration of life; in place of the Dies Irae, Thomas exhorts us to “rage against the dying of the light”, while Robert Louis Stevenson accepts his fate with the words: “Glad did I live and gladly die."

But the journey also pivots into humour, and ends with a feeling of optimism and acceptance, unashamedly in the bright key of A major. “Russell’s view is that you have four score years and 10, so you may as well live for the moment. The ending couldn’t be more joyous,” says Chris. l

Russell Pascoe’s Secular Requiem, recorded by Truro Cathedral Choir and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, is due for CD release in November.

CLASSICAL MUSIC ROUND-UP

• Truro Cathedral Choir. St-Justin-Roseland church, October 14. Great choral music including Zadok the Priest. Part of Roseland Music Society’s autumn programme. www.roselandmusicsociety.org.uk

• Music at Tresanton. St Mawes, November 4 to 6. Four cellists perform a programme devised around Beethoven’s cello sonatas. www.fienta.com/music-at-tresanton

• Celloman. St Austell Arts Theatre, November 4; The Acorn, Penzance, November 5. A fusion of world music, jazz and classical.

• A tribute to Hans Zimmer and John Williams. Truro Cathedral, November 5. London Film Music Orchestra plays music from the scores of ET, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Tickets via Eventbrite.

• Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: On Your Doorstep. St Austell Arts Theatre, November 5, 2.30pm. A celebration of the sea, from Handel’s Water Music to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. www.staustellartstheatre.org.uk

• English Touring Opera: Handelfest. St John the Evangelist's Church, Truro, November 10. An exciting new production of Tamerlano, a gripping psychological contest between a tyrant and a captive king. www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

• Juan Martin. St Endellion church, November 12. Top flamenco guitarist and composer. www.endelienta.org.uk