Pennod 1 Requiem

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-A requiem is part remembrance

-and part celebration.

-These works bring something

-different to every performer.

-Rest. Illumination. Peace.

-# Requiem #

-It carries you

-on an emotional journey.

-It can be performed

-in memory of an individual...

-..or it can be a response

-to humanity.

-I like the emphasis in the requiem

-on the next world...

-..be that Heaven or Hell.

-It creates tension.

-Instilling fear

-was fashionable within the Church.

-It kept the faithful true and

-it brought the unfaithful to Church.

-From the simple, Medieval plainsong

-to Britten in the 20th century...

-..over 2,000 requiems have been

-composed over the past 500 years.

-It's about the upbeat quavers.

-If we can always energize that.

-The requiem has inspired some of

-our most famous classical works.

-Keep that forward energy about it.

-From its Catholic roots...

-..the requiem has flowered

-in other Christian traditions...

-..and in a variety of cultures.

-Da, da-da! Da, da-da!

-We're all familiar with the word.

-Such is the power

-of ritual and music...

-..at the heart

-of life's greatest mystery - death.

-Subtitles

-In this series...

-..we follow the development

-of the requiem as a musical form.

-We also look at how composers

-over the centuries...

-..were inspired

-by this unique genre.

-# Lacrimosa #

-The roots of the requiem

-lie in early Christianity.

-Death is one thing

-we all have in common.

-Whatever our beliefs,

-we all feel bereavement and loss.

-The requiem can express this

-through words and music.

-The music to which it's set gives

-the text a unique meaning each time.

-The words have a real gravitas.

-They transcend mere words.

-From its Church roots, the requiem

-has moved out to the concert hall.

-Composers saw the potential

-of the drama and the emotion...

-..in the requiem Mass text.

-It's a framework

-which can be flexible...

-..but which also holds

-a timeless message.

-Great requiems written by Berlioz,

-Mozart, Verdi and Britten...

-..are performed all over the world.

-The impetus behind the symphonic,

-theatrical requiem...

-..came from revolutionary turmoil in

-France in the late 18th century...

-..thanks to one man,

-who is largely overlooked now.

-The Italian, Luigi Cherubini.

-# Dies irae

-# Dies illa

-# Solvet saeclum in favilla

-# Teste David cum Sybilla

-# Quantus tremor est futurus

-Quando Judex est venturus

-# Cuncta stricte discussurus

-# Tuba mirum spargens sonum

-# Per sepulcra regionum

-# Coget omnes ante thronum

-# Coget omnes, coget omnes

-# Ante thronum #

-Cherubini's work marked a sea change

-in the history of the requiem.

-It was an unexpected development.

-Cherubini doesn't naturally

-spring to mind...

-..when you think of

-composers of great requiems.

-When you listen to

-his dramatic Dies Irae...

-..you realize it moves rapidly

-from one section to another.

-It begins with a trumpet call

-and one stroke of the gong.

-These instantly fills us

-with the fear of Judgement Day.

-It's no wonder composers

-looked at Cherubini as a model.

-He did something which was very new.

-# Judicati responsura

-# Liber scriptus proferetur

-# In quo totum continetur

-# Unde mundus judicetur #

-Dies irae - the day of wrath.

-# Quidquid latet apparebit #

-People are so frightened,

-they can only speak in whispers.

-It then builds until it

-fully expresses the fear of death.

-# Rex tremendae majestatis

-# Rex tremendae majestatis

-# Qui salvados salvas gratis #

-Cherubini sparked a change in the

-way composers viewed the requiem.

-He saw it belonged in the Church but

-it could exist in the outside world.

-Cherubini was a pioneer...

-..who had a great influence

-on composers who came after him.

-He opened the door

-to dramatic requiems...

-..and Schumann and Brahms

-were among his admirers.

-Beethoven said that

-if he wrote a requiem...

-..Cherubini would be his model.

-Funeral services have been part of

-Christianity since its early days.

-The requiem began as a prayer

-for the souls of the dead.

-The requiem begins by asking God

-to give souls eternal rest.

-It then moves on to sections

-which depict...

-..things which aren't

-entirely restful!

-The requiem

-became a reminder to the living...

-..of the terrors of Judgement Day...

-..and the need to be good

-to win eternal life in Heaven.

-That was the point of the Latin poem

-Dies Irae - The Day Of Wrath.

-It was written by Thomas de Celano

-in the 16th century.

-Unlike the ordinary Mass...

-..this section is unique

-to the Requiem.

-It offers the dramatic element

-which inspired composers...

-..from the late

-18th century onwards.

-As the liturgy of requiem develops

-in the later Middle Ages...

-..there's an element

-of verbal theatre about requiem.

-It's meant to make us sit up a bit.

-# Dies irae. Dies illa #

-It's a warning to unbelievers.

-Memento mori - you will die.

-It's much like the artwork

-on church walls...

-..depicting how we will burn

-in an eternal fire...

-..and be prodded by pitchforks.

-Horrific punishments.

-# Day of wrath! Day of mourning!

-# See fulfilled

-the prophets' warning

-# Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

-# O, what fear man's bosom rendeth

-# When from Heav'n

-the Judge descendeth

-# On whose sentence all dependeth #

-Once you begin to have

-the terrors of judgement...

-..vigorously portrayed

-in the text...

-..Christmas has come early

-for the composer!

-They can elaborate the dramatic

-elements and frequently they do.

-# Dies irae, dies irae #

-# Death and nature

-will be astounded... #

-The Dies Irae

-has changed dramatically...

-..since it was written

-as a plainsong centuries ago.

-# To answer the judgement #

-The Church was none too happy

-with these changes.

-Verdi Expert, La Scala Theatre

-The Church wasn't happy...

-..to see religious text...

-..paired with such dramatic music.

-The Church itself brought in

-elements such as the Dies Irae...

-..with the original thinking that

-it would possibly frighten people...

-..and draw them into the faith.

-I can't see how they could object

-to composers' creative response...

-..to the text which they used within

-their own four walls.

-In the next part,

-we stay in France...

-..to see how Faure and Berlioz

-interpreted death.

-How did they portray Judgement Day

-in their work?

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-Subtitles

-Subtitles

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-Subtitles

-Some 70 years

-after Cherubini wrote his requiem...

-..Faure's Requiem premiered

-at La Madeleine Church, Paris.

-Faure himself was the conductor.

-Unlike Mozart,

-Cherubini and Berlioz...

-..Faure omits the dramatic words

-of the Dies Irae from his requiem.

-Rather, it's a work

-which offers comfort...

-..and eternal rest

-to the soul of the departed.

-Its focus is not

-on the horror of Judgement Day.

-There's something comforting and

-uplifting about the Faure Requiem.

-It's not always true of other works.

-Specific numbers

-in specific pieces...

-..seem to trigger

-a very strong emotion with people.

-The most obvious one being

-the Pie Jesu in the Faure Requiem.

-# Pie Jesu Domine

-# Dona eis requiem

-# Dona eis requiem #

-Like Cherubini, Faure composed

-the Pie Jesu as a separate movement.

-It has become one of the

-most well known Requiem works...

-..and it set the pattern

-for the future.

-# Pie Jesu Domine

-# Dona eis requiem

-# Dona eis requiem #

-The idea is that one lone person

-sings the words as a prayer.

-It's a difficult piece to sing

-because it's charged with emotion...

-..but it must sound simple.

-# Dona eis domine

-# Dona eis requiem

-# Sempiternam requiem

-# Sempiternam requiem #

-It doesn't have the gesture

-of Verdi, Berlioz or Britten...

-..but it soothes, and that

-has to be one of the basic needs...

-..that we have from a requiem.

-# Pie, Pie Jesu

-# Pie Jesu Domine #

-I sang Pie Jesu in a service

-for the children of Dunblane.

-The words mean so much and I saw

-their message in a new light...

-..and I understood

-what Faure wanted to say.

-# Sempiternam requiem

-# Sempiternam requiem #

-It's a comforting lullaby

-to ease you towards death.

-Faure didn't fear death.

-He accepted it.

-Faure was reacting against...

-..what he saw as the histrionics

-of Grande Messe Des Morts...

-..which was written by Hector

-Berlioz 50 years earlier, in 1837.

-This requiem was commissioned

-by the French government...

-..for a military funeral.

-It was an expression

-of national glory.

-The premiere was staged

-at Les Invalides Church, Paris...

-..but it was almost ruined...

-..thanks to the conductor,

-Francois Antoine Habeneck.

-When they came to the Tuba Mirum...

-..the conductor had to give the beat

-to four brass bands...

-..to move them

-into a different tempo.

-Suddenly, the conductor

-reached into his pocket...

-..and he pulled out a snuff box.

-Berlioz leapt from the audience.

-He grabbed the baton and conducted

-the rest of the performance.

-He made a success from something

-which was on the brink of disaster.

-It was an extremely high profile

-performance.

-The Dies Irae includes several

-verses which lead to Judgement Day.

-In the Tuba Mirum,

-the last trumpet sounds...

-..to call the souls of the departed

-to assemble at God's throne...

-..to be judged.

-# Tuba mirum spargens sonum... #

-The four brass bands included 40

-players spread around the church...

-..to convey Berlioz's grand vision

-of the last trump on Judgement Day.

-He thought,

-"If I'm going to write a requiem...

-..there will never have been

-anything like it before nor after."

-In his score,

-he specified a huge choir...

-..where men outnumbered women

-by almost two to one...

-..and an orchestra with

-108 string players and 16 timpani.

-Berlioz said if all his works

-but one were to be destroyed...

-..he would plead for his requiem,

-Grande Messe Des Morts, to be saved.

-Of all the requiems

-written as government commissions...

-..the strangest

-is by Benjamin Britten.

-A few weeks into World War II, the

-Japanese government approached him.

-They commissioned him to

-write a piece to honour the emperor.

-I'm sure it wasn't the piece

-they wanted...

-..but he's given us

-a great masterpiece.

-It's as good as the War Requiem

-and every bit as personal.

-Some 20 years before War Requiem...

-..Britten wrote Sinfonia Da Requiem

-for Japan, in the shadow of war.

-The three movements are called

-Dies Irae, Requiem Aeternam...

-..and Lacrimosa, with its

-tears of rage rather than sadness.

-Shortly before Japan

-attacked Pearl Harbor...

-..they rejected the work

-and sent it back.

-Despite the early history

-of Sinfonia Da Requiem...

-..had he called it something like

-Symphony In Three Movements...

-..it wouldn't have been rejected.

-It contains no words.

-It isn't a requiem, of course.

-It's a statement by Britten

-about pacifism...

-..and his anguish in the face

-of the war which had broken out...

-..a mere 20 years

-after the Great War.

-It's like a ride into abyss.

-Britten depicts

-the mechanism of war here.

-Horses going into battle.

-It feels like it's galloping

-out of control. So raw, so feral.

-You can hear the guns

-and the explosions.

-Next time, we trace

-the development of the requiem...

-..as composers broke away

-from the Catholic liturgy.

-We also discover how the requiem

-became part of other cultures.

-S4C subtitles by Eirlys A Jones

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