Fauré and Rutter Requiems

Thursday 28 March 2024

Sheldonian Theatre, 19:30

Rutter Requiem

Fauré Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 (ed. John Rutter)

Mary Bevan soprano

Gareth Brynmor John baritone

Choir of Merton College

John Rutter conductor

When Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem first appeared in Paris in 1888, it seemed to propose a whole new musical and religious philosophy. Far from the fire and brimstone of Verdi’s or even Mozart’s Requiems, Fauré’s is at its most powerful when at its most calm and reassuring. ‘It is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith

Tickets £48 £38 £28 £15 (students from £5) in eternal rest,’ said the composer of the score’s clean lines, pure vocal textures and elegant orchestration. John Rutter, long associated with the score as its editor, leads the Orchestra and the Choir of Merton College for this performance of Fauré’s masterpiece of understatement, along with his own setting of the Latin Requiem.