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Posted on 11/02/2013 5:02:30 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
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Eric Liddell, memorialized in the film Chariots of Fire, won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics before going to China as a missionary. Some years later, with the outbreak of World War II, Liddell sent his family to safety in Canada, but he remained in China. Soon Liddell and other foreign missionaries were interned in a Japanese detainment camp. After months of captivity, he developed what doctors feared was a brain tumor.
Every Sunday afternoon a band would play near the hospital, so one day Liddell requested they play the hymn “Be Still, My Soul.” As he listened, I wonder if Eric pondered these words from the song: Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on / When we shall be forever with the Lord. / When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, / Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. / Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past / All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
That beautiful hymn, so comforting to Eric as he faced an illness that led to his death 3 days later, expresses a great reality of Scripture. In Psalm 46:10, David wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In our darkest moments, we can rest, for our Lord conquered death on our behalf. Be still, and allow Him to calm your greatest fears.
Read: Psalm 46
Mozart’s last piece was his Requiem, for which he was commissioned by a nobleman who intended to pass the piece off as his own. He never finished it, and one of his students completed the work. More recently, others have taken Mozart’s score and finished it in their own different ways.
Mozart set the Kyrie as a fugue, which is natural because of the repetitive nature of the Greek words. But this is Mozart wearing his size 15 triple-E boots, and it’s one of his very finest works in counterpoint. No composer after Mozart dared to set the Kyrie as a fugue again.
Mozart does something at the end that is astonishing. He ends with a D chord with an open fifth (D-A-D). He leaves out the F or F# which would indicate whether the chord is D Major or D minor. But tonal ambiguity is not what he is attempting here. There is no doubt that this is D minor.
That open fifth is used to illustrate space, and it is usually the space above, such as the sky. But in the last chord of the Kyrie and during the few seconds of its decay in the church, Mozart gives a glimpse of the space below, the abyss. How he does this I’ve never been able to figure out. It’s hair-raising.
Mozart: Requiem, Introit & Kyrie (Gardiner conducting English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir)
Good evening, Mayor, and a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours.
Thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.
~ Camping In The Outback ~
Fearing Mozart’s precedent, Berlioz sets the Kyrie as plainchant. But it’s the Dies Irae where he pulls out all the stops. It starts in A minor with the sopranos stating the theme softly, joined by the basses and tenors.
At 2:41, it goes up a semi-tone to B-flat minor, and the tenors take up the march.
At 3:54, it goes up to D minor, and the choir works the theme up as a canon.
Then at 5:11 all hell breaks loose. The key changes to E-flat, and four separate brass bands in the balcony take over a grand fanfare, leading to separate sections of tympani accompanying the chorus in the Tuba Mirum. Choristers here are totally dependent on the conductor because they can’t hear a thing over all the kettle drums going at once.
At 7:30, the choir gets a break and sings quietly for the buildup to the second fanfare. For the second episode, the basses and brass bands alternate parts leading up to the kettle drums.
At 11:05, the movement ends quietly with menacing figures on the lower strings. The sense is, “Did I just really sing all that?”
Berlioz: Requiem, Dies Irae (Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus)
There is a long and honored tradition of singing the Rex Tremendae as “Sex Tremandae” in rehearsal. In this video, you can see just how big the forces are for this piece. This is why in any city it will not be performed any more often than every 30 or 40 years.
The Lacrymosa is written in 9/8. Usually this is three groups of three to the bar, but here Berlioz writes it as nine straight beats with the strong beat on six. It’s an odd rhythmic effect. He brings in the chorus one fach at a time. (Try saying that German word and not make it sound dirty.) I like to sing the bass parts when no one is around to hear me.
At 2:13, an interlude turns to C Major. The basses then take the pulse.
But at 4:36 things return to A minor, and this time the chorus is accompanied by interjections from the tympani section and the brass bands.
At 6:22, the C Major section returns in A Major.
At 8:08, there is a titanic battle of heaven versus hell in A minor as the chorus insistently sings an F (heaven) while the brasses insist equally on E (hell). The chorus sings the Lacrymosa line in unison and then in thirds. Switching decisively to A Major, at 9:23, Berlioz plays his trump card. He staggers the chorus and orchestra a half beat off each other to take advantage of the echo in the church as heaven wins the battle. The chorus ends in unison, and the vision fades into silence.
Berlioz: Requiem, Lacrymosa (Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus)
Remember that tenor suspended from a catwalk? Berlioz uses him to represent an angel in the Sanctus. Having stayed away from fugues thus far – remember Mozart’s Kyrie? – Berlioz writes a fugue for chorus for the Hosanna. The key is D-flat. The second time through the Sanctus, the percussion punctuates respectfully. The second time through the Hosanna, Berlioz extends the fugue into a bravura finish.
I love your graphic, Sand, and you are not even involved in the dastardly Daylight Saving mess. Lucky you.
We were told we could vote on it, but it never finds its way to the ballot.
For the Dies Irae, Verdi obviously has learned his lesson from Berlioz. (This gets used a lot in TV commercials.) Catch the whispering in horror from the chorus. For the Tuba Mirum, Verdi uses his brass section like Berlioz. The bass intones the Mors Stupebit with a sense of trepidation. The Liber Scriptus features a mezzo applying some balm to the situation. Unlike Berlioz, Verdi brings back the Dies Irae to cap the Sequence.
Verdi: Requiem, First Part of Sequence (Maazel conducting)
There is a segue into the Quid Sum Miser and the Rex Tremendae. Here the approach is far different from Berlioz. It sounds more like the opera house.
Here, Verdi opts for simplicity and brevity, as opposed to Berlioz.
Verdi: Requiem, Lacrymosa (Soloists Fleming, Urmana, Pape, Pita; Pappano conducting)
And we’re off to the races! The Sanctus is much livelier and less hushed than Berlioz. With the Agnus Dei, the tone returns to reverence.
Verdi: Requiem, Sanctus & Agnus Dei (Soloists Price & Cassotto; Karajan conducting at La Scala)
G’Day, Janey...((HUGS))...when is stateside day?
A Blessed Lord’s Day to you and Dad and friends.
I’m not overly fond of spiders, but those BIG ones I hate!!!
Best buddies...*sniff*
Good evening, Publius...a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours.
Enjoying your music selections as I work. Thank you.
Good Evening Everybody!
((((HUGS))))
Almighty God, we pray that You restore us to You. Hear our cries to You. And may we be aware that when YOUR people humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways that You will hear from heaven and heal our land.
For we are Your people spoken of. We are the Christians who must return to You, for the state of our land testifies that we have become indifferent, distant, removed, and wayward.
If we claim You, then have us honor You with our lives, that Your ways would be our ways.
If we claim You, then have us focus on the kind of leaders You would select, for You have placed a vote in our hands and given to us freedom to participate in our own governance. For You have mercifully reminded us of responsibility when we pray, "Raise up leaders who will honor You."
If we claim You, then have us recognize the destruction to which our wickedness leads. Have us weep for the souls who know not about You, and have us doubly weep for those who know not because of our own silence about You.
Have mercy, Lord. May You hold back the whirlwind we have sown and instead convict us of our sin, of our silence, and of our indifference. May we seek a better city rather than run for the pleasures of the earthly cities. And may Your blessing fall upon us when we so humble ourselves before You.
In Jesus name we pray; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
I memorized Verdi’s Requiem from a set of LP’s from the Boston Public Library when I was in the sixth grade. It happened to be the Moscow orchestra and Chorus, and to this day, I sing the “Lacrimosa’ with a Russian Accent.
I like Mozart & Berlioz...But Verdi’s Requiem is my favorite!
(The Russian “L” is almost a guttural consonant, unlike the Latin “L” which is a Resonating Consonant, and there are Lots of “L’s” in the lacrimosa! LOLOLOL)
Interesting thing about Today’s Sermon!
When I applied for my CCW, I filled out the form on a computer. When the time came to “Swear” that everything I had said was the Truth, I pulled my Bible out of my purse to swear on it.
The Gub’mmint Official said that wasn’t necessary...all i had to do was click the mouse on the button that said “Swear”.
Somehow, it did not feel the same as putting one hand on the good book, raising the other, and actually SAYING the words.
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