Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) - Requiem

Andrew Lloyed Webber, the composer of the world famous musicals Cats, Evita, Starlight Express, wrote a Requiem for tenor, soprano and treble, choir and orchestra.

Two events set the Requiem in motion. The first was the death of Andrew Lloyd Webber's father in 1982 and the second was a story about Cambodia in an obscure corner of the New York Times, concerning a boy who was faced with the choice of killing his mutilated sister or being killed himself. Cambodia has no musical influence on the score, but it did give Andrew Lloyd Webber the idea of scoring the Requiem for a boy, a girl and a man: in other words, treble, high soprano aqnd tenor. The writing is strictly along cathedral lines, but Lloyed Webber admits that it might not always be academically correct - "My father insisted that I should not be over-trained musically."

Lloyed Webber Snr. was an organist at All Saint and at the Central Hall, Westminster, as well as being a composer of sacred music.

The first draft of the Requiem was heard during the 1984 Sydmonton Festival. After that he "polished" the work. The polishing took a further half-year, probably the most concentrated and lengthy period of work Lloyed Webber has given to any of his compositions to date. Nothing has been allowed to distract from the Requiem.

Thank you, Andrew Lloyd Webber, for composing this masterpiece. The "Pie Jesu" will always be in my heart !

The Compact Disc was released by EMI, 1985, (DDD). CDC 7471462.

Tenor: Placido Domingo ("the best tenor I have ever heard")
Soprano: Sarah Brightman ("this angel voice is brilliant")
Treble: Paul Miles-Kingston

Winchester Cathedral Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Conductor: Lorin Maazel

Track List:

1. Requiem & Kyrie (6'39")
2. Dies Irae ... Rex Tremendae (6'00")
3. Recordare (3'21")
4. Ingemisco ... Lacrymosa (7'40")
5. Offertorium (5'19")
6. Hosanna (4'51")
7. Pie Jesu (3'53")
8. Lux Aeterna & Libera Me (7'29")
   

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) - Miserere in B flat minor

The Miserere in B flat minor for soloists, chorus and orchestra shows the unique position occupied by E.T.A. Hoffmann in musical history. Of all composers of the Romantic period it was Hoffmann who thought most deeply and wrote most perceptively about the aesthetics of his art and in particular about the true nature of church music. It is therefore no coincidence that the first of his writings to appear in print bears the title "Epistle of a Monastic City". Although the article appears to be chiefly concerned with the role of the chorus in the theatre since the time of the ancient Greeks, Hoffmann's main preoccupation is in fact the art of choral writing in the musical sense, a problem therefore whose solution is to be sought principally in church music.

During the next two decades Hoffmann wrote many more essays on musical problems and works, most of them appearing in three instalments in 1814 under the title Church Music Ancient and Modern. As the date of his Miserere falls almost exactly half-way between the dates of the first essay and this comprehensive collection of writings, posterity has the comparatively rare advantage of being informed by the composer exactly what aims and ideals were influencing him at the time of composition.

The lyrical and dramatic elements which are clearly an important part of Hoffmann's individuality as a composer are evident in the Miserere. Yet he carefully avoids operatic devices in his vocal writing, especially the arias. Quite outstanding thoughout the entire work is his impeccable Latin prosody, i.e. his musical diction and respect for the text, although in fact he chose not to set the whole of the psalm; some passages are omitted, as can be seen from the printed text, and this gives the work a structural balance that is almost classical.

Hoffmann's Miserere is the work of a man well acquainted with tradition and confident in handling it as the fugal sections clearly show - but one who openly admitted to being a romantic innovator in the realm of large-scale church music.

Being a Protestant, Hoffmann had not grown up with this tradition, unlike Haydn and Schubert. Mentally and technically he had to acquire it before he could use it as a medium for his own personal feelings.

In the Miserere he finally made the style his own. This is why the Miserere can undoubtedly be ranked among the relatively few masterpieces of church music music written at the beginning of the Romantic Era.

The Compact Disc was released by Koch Schwann, 1997, (DDD). Koch 3-1148-2.

Soprano: Camilla Nylund
Mezzo-Soprano: Arantxa Armentia
Alto: Lioba Braun
Tenor: Rodrigo Orrego
Bass: Johannes Schmidt

Süddeutsches Vokalemsemble, Concerto Bamberg, Conductor: Rolf Beck

Track List:

1. Misere mei, Deus (5'57")
2. Ecce enim (3'06")
3. Ecce enim veritatem (2'40")
4. Asperges me (3'41")
5. Auditui meo dabis (1'44")
6. Averta faciem tuam (3'22")
7. Redde mihi (3'45")
8. Docebo iniquos (2'18")
9. Libera me (2'41")
10. Sacrificim deo (5'01")
11. Benigne fac (1'59")
12. Ut aedificentur (3'26")
    

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) - Messa di Gloria

"Rossini's Messa di Gloria is not just a masterpiece, but also a work of outstanding significance. It is the first sacred composition of Rossini's maturity, and, indeed, the only sacred work from this period of his compositional activity. It shows the influence of his Neapolitan operas, above all, 'Mosè in Egitto', in its masterly handling of the orchestra, its feeling for detail and mastery of the whole range of stylistic methods, while at the same time clearly representing the composer's search for his own particular style for a sacred work. The Messa is a work that has earned the right, after a hundred years of silence, to be performed and accepted as one of the great sacred compositions of the nineteenth century." (quotation from the world-famous Rossini expert, Professor Gosset)

The first performance of the Mass took place on 24 March 1820 in the church of Saint Ferdinand, in Naples. The "Giornale delle due Sicilie", on 31 March described the music as masterly, worthy and uplifting.

No further performance of the work is recorded. It first appeared in print in Paris in the 1860s in a piano reduction; the score survives only as copies.

Only the first sheet of the "Domine Deus" survives in Rossini's autograph. The composer himself separated it from the autograph score in 1846, and presented it to the librettist Gustave Vaez.

This complex tale of sources may perhaps be the reason why the work remained hidden from pulic view until the mid-1960s.

More recently, since the performance under the auspices of the Rossini Opera Festival in Paesaro on 29 February 1992 (the composer's 200th birthday), the work has at last begun to find its way into the repertoire, as one of the most refined examples of Italian church music of the first half of the nineteenth century.

The Compact Disc was released by ARTE NOVA, 2000, (DDD). ARTE NOVA 74321777112.

Soprano: Doreen Maria de Feis
Mezzo-Soprano: Caroline Odermatt
Tenor: Patrizio Saudelli
Bass: Christian Tschelebiew

Landesjugendchor Baden-Würtemberg, European Festival Orchestra, Conductor: Wilhelm Keitel

Track List:

1. Kyrie Eleison (4'25")
2. Christe Eleison (3'06")
3. Kyrie Eleison (3'51")
4. Gloria (6'05")
5. Laudamus (7'55")
6. Gratias (8'42")
7. Domine Deus (6'35")
8. Qui tollis (11'45")
9. Quoniam (7'58")
10. Cum Sancto (4'36")
    

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) - Missa Sacra in C minor op. 147

Robert Schumann wrote the Mass in February and March 1852, directly before the Requiem op. 148. It is written for solo voices, choir and orchestra.

Parts of the Mass were rehearsed with his "Singekränzchen" for the first time on April 18, 1852. But his hopes of having it ready for performance in the early summer were dashed by ill health, and it was not until the beginning of the next year that he was able to conduct renewed rehearsals and then perform the Kyrie and Gloria sections at the Geissler Hall on March3, 1853.

Schumann did not live to hear his only Mass performed in its entirety. And even after his death in 1856, obstacles stood in the way of its gaining widespread acceptance.

Clara Schumann herself finally sought to dispel the reservations Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim had expressed regarding its publication.

After the Aachen premiere under the baton of Franz Wüllner in July 1861, she wrote to Brahms: "You can't imagine how beautiful it sounds. Certain lines in the Sanctus have such a wonderful effect that cold shivers run down your spine."

The Compact Disc was released by Capriccio, 2002, (DDD). Capriccio 67001.

Soprano: Anke Hoffmann
Tenor: Hein Heidbüchel
Bass: Franz Gerihsen

WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, Conductor: Helmuth Froschauer

Track List:

(11) 1. Kyrie (4'04")
(12) 2. Gloria (8'59")
(13) 3. Credo (7'26")
(14) 4. Offertorium (2'17")
(15) 5. Sanctus (10'24")
(16) 6. Agnus Dei (4'40")

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) - Messa di Gloria

As the son of a well-known composer and organist, he was still only fourteen when he followed in the family tradition and became organist at San Martino in Lucca, but, far from confining himself to organ music, he soon evinced an interest in the orchestra, completing his Preludio Sinfonico in 1876.

Rediscovered more than a century later thanks to the researches of Pietro Spada, this brief prelude already attests to Puccini's remarkable skill in handling orchestral forces, a skill that was to be confirmed in 1880 with his much more ambitious Messa di Gloria.

Intended as his final exercise at the Instituto Musicale Pacini, this work already finds the young composer developing a wholly unmistakable style of his own.

The mass in A flat major is distinguished by the beauty of its vocal writing and by a heart-warming lyricism underscored by extremely inventive instrumentation.

Although the Mass remained unpublished, Puccini was clearly sufficiently proud of the piece to reuse certain of its themes: the Agnus Dei is reused more or less in identical form in the opera Manon Lescaut.

The Capriccio Sinfonico - written in 1883 at the end of his period of study at Milan Conservatory - contain a number of themes that listerners can identify in La Bohème.

The Compact Disc was released by ERATO, 1978/1996, (ADD). ERATO 0630-12818-2.

Tenor: Wlliam Johns
Bass: Philippe Huttenlocher

Symphony Chorus & Orchestra Of The Gulbernkian Foundation Lisbon, Conductor: Michel Corboz

Track List:

1. Kyrie (4'46")
2. Gloria (19'26")
3. Credo (15'50")
4. Sanctus (3'19")
5. Agnus Dei (2'42")
6. Preludio Sinfonico (9'59")
7. Carpriccio Sinfonico (12'32")
   

Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) - Symphonie Antique op. 83 (with the "Te Deum Laudamus")

Like many other composers also Widor passed through different phases in the development of his style of composing. He wrote salon music, chamber music and his four organ symphonies after his studies with Lemmens and Fétis. The other organ symphonies, the piano concertos, orchestral works, ballets, operas and mélodies were composed in his maturer years.

Being organist of Saint-Sulpice (1870-1934) Widor spent most of his lifetime in the service of the Church, apart from his activities as a composer and teacher. The Symphonie Gothique, the Symphonie Romane and the Sinfonia Sacra are all based on liturgiacl themes.

In the Symphonie Antique Widor used the themes of Te Deum and Lauda Sion.

It is likely that Widor worked on this opus 83 for over two years. Widor himself conducted the premiere which took place on March 22nd, 1911, in the hall of the mansion of Widor's friend, the Comtesse de Bearn. The Gabriel Pierné conducted the first public performance at the end of December 1911. Two years later Widor had a great success when he conducted the Symhonie Antique in Dortmund, together with his first concerto.

The symhonie is in four parts with the movements Allegro moderato, Adagio, Moderato (Scherzo) and Moderato. The first three parts are played by the orchestra alone before the choir joins in to sing the Te Deum Laudamus in the last part, the fourth movement.

It is odd that the organist Widor has made very little use of "his" instrument in this great symphony. The organ only joins in the big finale, leading the choir and the orchestra to a majestic conclusion.

The last part of the Symphonie Antique - which has found its way back to the concert programmes since about 1992 - is the wonderful Te Deum Laudamus, maybe Widor has never composed anything better than this for choir and orchestra.




The Compact Disc was released by MOTETTE, 1996, (DDD). Motette CD 40181.

Radio Sinfonie-Orchester Pilsen, Domkantorei Altenberg, Gürzenich Chor Köln, Deutsch-Französischer Chor Köln, Total Vocal Dortmund, Orgel: Andreas Meisner, Paul Wißkirchen, Leitung: Volker Hempfling

Track List:

Messe fis-Moll op.36 for male choir and two organs

1. Kyrie (2'38")
2. Gloria (4'01")
3. Sanctus (1'31")
4. Benedictus (1'13")
5. Agnus Dei (4'40")

Symphonie Antique mit Schlusschor Te Deum op. 83 for soli, choir, orchestra and organ

6. Allegro Moderato (11'17")
7. Adagio (7'02")
8. Moderato - Allegro (Lauda Sion) (7'29")
9. Moderato: Te Deum Laudamus (24'26")

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - Messa Da Requiem

The Requiem has had a chequered career. When his arch rival Bellini died in 1835 Donizetti was asked by Riccordi, their joint publishers, to write something suitable. Lament on the Death of Bellini was the outcome but then, from Naples, came a request for a Requiem Mass.

Donizetti started the project, but there was insufficient time, the promoter backed out and it remained unfinished.

The Mass never received a performance in Donizetti's lifetime and was only published in 1870 and was performed that year in Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo where Donizetti had been a choirboy.

It was later used for the ceremony when Donizetti's remains were moved to a grander setting. So although it was written for Bellini in fact, it was used for the composer. It has been revived serveral times since and is now recognised as one of his most important non-opera compositions.

The Mass lacks certain parts, a Sanctus, a Benedictus and an Agnus Dei, which were presumably never composed. Equally some of the orchestrations differ according to the versions used. However what exists shows Donizetti to be a powerful and compelling religious choral composer and Verdi must have known this piece when he came to write his own version of the Requiem.

The introduction has Mozartian overtones, the Kyrie a particularly strong, woeful feel, heart-breaking in its intensity; whereas the Dies Irae is a splash of colourful orchestral writing - very operatic and dramatic.

There are hints of a Neapolitan song and some music which is delightfully sentimental. The solo parts are well written, especially in the Preces Meae where the brass predominates and in the later sections, where the music takes on an almost impressionistic feel.

The Compact Disc was released by Koch Discover International, 1997, (DDD). DICD 920519.

Soprano: Tiziana K. Sojat
Mezzo-Soprano: Jaroslava Horska-Maxova
Tenor: Vittorio Giammarrusco
Baritone: Zdenek Hlavka
Bass: Marcel Rosca

Virtuosi di Praga, Prague Chamber Choir, Conductor: Alexander Rahbari

Track List:

1. Introduzione (8'28")
2. Kyrie (2'40")
3. Requiem (2'49")
4. In Memoria Aeterna (2'51")
5. Dies Irae (3'01")
6. Tuba Mirum (3'06")
7. Judex Ergo (4'37")
8. Rex Tremendae Majestatis (4'25")
9. Ingemisco (4'41")
10. Preces Meae (2'32"9
11. Confutatis Maledictis (2'25")
12. Oro Supplex (3'03")
13. Lacrymosa Dies Illa (4'31")
14. Offertorium (5'11")
15. Libera Me (8'42")