Composition Date: 2002
Duration: 00:24:30
Genre: Two Voices, With Chorus Only

Instrumentation:

Instrumentation Set Number 1:

• 1 x Soprano
• 1 x Tenor
• 1 x Mixed chorus

Click here to download full work (16.56 Mb - Not printable)

Programme Note:
How should we respond to the news of the sudden and violent deaths of innocent people that comes to us daily in our world? Should we plot deeds of revenge, or rail against God for all this injustice? Or should we engage in unnatural acts of forgiveness - bearing in mind that, in ways difficult to comprehend, being human, we are connected to terrorists as much as we are to their victims.

The ancient rituals of the requiem are designed to bring comfort and hope to those who remain. But what of the dead? Certainly they do not need our grief and pain. But they do need our forgiveness, and our love. And they need our confident hope that God can turn even mindless terrorism into opportunities for the realization of God's purposes.

Although I have drawn on a number of non-liturgical texts, the three basic pillars of the requiem mass ordinary (the Kyrie, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei) have been incorporated. And although I have used the standard title "Requiem", you will find no reference to eternal rest - an idea utterly repugnant to me. I have been mindful of the German theologian of the early 20th century, Friedrich Rittelmeyer, who, when standing in front of a grave stone that read "Here rests XX" said, "He is certainly not here, and he is certainly not resting"! But we are here, and often we are resting..........

---

CATALOGUE INFO:

• Call Number:
• MV 2700 C114re
• Genre:
• Two Voices, With Chorus Only
• Date of Acquisition:
• June 23, 2009
• Type:
• Print-music, Published by CMC
• Physical Description:
• 1 score ((8), 59 p.); 28 cm.
  67 Pages
  Height: 28 cm
  Width: 22 cm
  
• Language Information
• Language of libretto: Latin
  Language of libretto: English
  
• Additional Information:
• 
  Introit: "Do not burden your soul with grief" (composer)
  Kyrie: Latin Ordinary (and composer)
  Gradual: Psalm 23 (trans. Miles Coverdale)
  Sequence: "Look not for justice" (composer)
  Offertory: "We only learn the suffering of death" (A.M. Ege)
  Sanctus and Benedictus: Latin Ordinary (and composer)
  Consecration: "Only the lonely" (A.M. Ege)
  Agnus Dei: Latin Ordinary (and composer)
  Communion: "Are you the dead?" (A.M. Ege)
  Litany: "In peace let us pray to the Lord" (composer)
  Responsory: "May the healing peace of God" (composer)
  

Request a Repertoire Consultation
Suggest Modification for this Record