0:00:00 > 0:00:00- Subtitles
0:00:00 > 0:00:02- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:00:09 > 0:00:15- More than 2,000 requiems have been - written over the past 500 years.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25- The requiem has inspired some of - our most famous classical works.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38- A requiem brings something different - to us all.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42- It carries you - on an emotional journey.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47- # Selig sind, die da... #
0:00:51 > 0:00:56- By the late 19th century, composers - had experimented with the format.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03- It's a framework - which can be flexible...
0:01:03 > 0:01:06- ..but whose message is timeless.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14- Brahms broke away from the tradition - of using Latin liturgy...
0:01:15 > 0:01:19- ..and Berlioz pushed the envelope - in his Grande Messe Des Morts.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25- The work which best represents - the pinnacle of this development...
0:01:25 > 0:01:31- ..is the most famous of them all - - Verdi's masterful Messa Da Requiem.
0:01:36 > 0:01:43- # Dies irae, dies irae
0:01:50 > 0:01:57- # Dies illa, dies illa #
0:01:59 > 0:02:01- This requiem has everything.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06- Its drama and operatic elements - are the antithesis of the plainsong.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12- # Teste David cum Sibylla
0:02:12 > 0:02:17- # Dies irae, dies irae
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- # Dies illa... #
0:02:21 > 0:02:26- He portrays the epic battle between - life and death on Judgement Day.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31- # Dies irae! Dies illa!
0:02:31 > 0:02:37- Verdi's requiem is really - one of the best operas ever written.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41- He created a full sound, - utilizing the whole orchestra.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44- It's very theatrical.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48- To call it an opera in - ecclesiastical robes is unfair.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- Who are we to cast doubt - on Verdi's integrity...
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- ..for writing his requiem - with operatic overtones?
0:02:55 > 0:03:00- His wife said, "A man like Verdi - must write like Verdi."
0:03:05 > 0:03:09- # Tuba mirum spargens sonum... #
0:03:12 > 0:03:16- Following the works of Mozart, - Cherubini, Berlioz and Brahms...
0:03:17 > 0:03:23- ..this requiem sits more comfortably - in the concert hall than the church.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33- It has been performed in churches - but more often in theatres...
0:03:33 > 0:03:41- ..which better suit the spectacular, - theatrical aspects of this requiem.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- If you slot Verdi's requiem - into a requiem Mass service...
0:03:49 > 0:03:51- ..with a priest at the altar...
0:03:51 > 0:03:53- ..it would last for three hours.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59- That wasn't deemed suitable - for the Catholic Church at the time.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- Giuseppe Verdi was the first - composer to take a requiem on tour.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10- Following its first performance in - St Mark's Church, Milan in 1874...
0:04:10 > 0:04:13- ..the requiem - was staged at La Scala...
0:04:13 > 0:04:18- ..before touring around Europe to - cities including Paris and London.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25- The tours were lucrative and Verdi - made a lot of money from them.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38- In the Libera Me, Verdi uses - his theatrical skills...
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- ..to convey the horrors - of Judgement Day.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46- The soul pleads for deliverance - from eternal death.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01- This Italian man uses Latin in - the opening recitative of Libera Me.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05- Latin comes to life.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08- # Tremens factus sum ego
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- # Et timeo
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- # Tremens factus sum ego
0:05:19 > 0:05:24- # Tremens factus sum ego
0:05:24 > 0:05:28- # Tremens factus sum ego
0:05:28 > 0:05:37- # Et timeo #
0:05:39 > 0:05:44- The opera house greasepaint - is never far away in this requiem.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54- We enjoy Verdi's requiem because - it's a theatrical experience.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- With that caveat, - it stands high in the pantheon.
0:06:02 > 0:06:09- # Lux perpetua
0:06:10 > 0:06:18- # Luceat eis
0:06:19 > 0:06:23- # Luceat eis
0:06:24 > 0:06:32- # Domine #
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- Verdi had little time - for Catholic traditions...
0:06:54 > 0:06:57- ..but he took inspiration - from the requiem form...
0:06:58 > 0:07:00- ..whose roots lie in Italy.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05- In Wales, since the early period, - the requiem wasn't part...
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- ..of the religious funeral service.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- When you think of chapels - and nonconformity...
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- ..the requiem is totally alien - to it.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24- However, poets in the Middle Ages - wrote elegies for the departed.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32- Early nonconformists didn't favour - music as part of worship...
0:07:33 > 0:07:35- ..especially not instrumental music.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- The organ was the musical instrument - of the devil.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- Simplicity characterizes - nonconformist worship.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- Chapels look like barns - for a reason.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- They include very little decoration.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57- There's no room for a requiem in - a chapel and it would be unsuitable.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01- The closest thing you get to it - in a chapel is the anthem.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- The hymn - and the more personal text...
0:08:04 > 0:08:10- ..is the nonconformist way of - remembering the departed individual.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- # Agnus Dei
0:08:16 > 0:08:19- # Qui tollis peccata mundi #
0:08:22 > 0:08:27- Despite the dearth of composers who - have written requiems in Wales...
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- ..in 2005, the Welsh - composer Karl Jenkins...
0:08:30 > 0:08:35- ..experimented with the form by - combining Japanese Haiku poems...
0:08:35 > 0:08:38- ..with the traditional requiem text.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47- It's an example of the way - in which contemporary composers...
0:08:47 > 0:08:51- ..introduced other cultures - and religions to the requiem.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57- The development of the requiem shows - how society's attitude has changed.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01- Latin has been moved away - from centre stage...
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- ..allowing composers - to reach out to audiences...
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- ..to help them understand more - and look further.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15- In the next part, - we see how 20th century composers...
0:09:15 > 0:09:18- ..built on the drama - of Verdi's requiem....
0:09:19 > 0:09:22- ..making it a personal - and political statement.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23- .
0:09:27 > 0:09:27- Subtitles
0:09:27 > 0:09:29- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:09:34 > 0:09:38- After the drama of Verdi's requiem - in the 19th century...
0:09:39 > 0:09:44- ..the 20th century composers - experimented further with the form.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52- It took almost 25 years for Polish - composer, Krzysztof Penderecki...
0:09:53 > 0:09:56- ..to complete his masterpiece, - A Polish Requiem.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01- Penderecki took his inspiration - for Lacrimosa, the first movement...
0:10:02 > 0:10:04- ..from the Verdi requiem.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13- # Lacrimosa
0:10:14 > 0:10:19- # Lacrimosa
0:10:20 > 0:10:25- # Lacrimosa
0:10:26 > 0:10:29- # Dies illa #
0:10:33 > 0:10:38- Penderecki mourns Polish history - and he yearns for a better future.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45- # Lacrimosa
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- # Lacrimosa
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- # Dies illa
0:10:56 > 0:11:00- # Qua resurget
0:11:01 > 0:11:10- # Qua resurget ex favilla #
0:11:11 > 0:11:16- The Lacrimosa commemorates - the dockers' revolution in Gdansk...
0:11:16 > 0:11:19- ..and the cruel way - in which it was crushed.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25- # Huic ergo parce, Deus... #
0:11:30 > 0:11:32- It's an extremely powerful movement.
0:11:34 > 0:11:45- # Pie Jesu... #
0:11:46 > 0:11:47- The motive changed.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52- The requiem became a form which can - be used to highlight world events.
0:11:54 > 0:12:04- # Pie Jesu Domine #
0:12:11 > 0:12:16- Penderecki's work is a powerful - statement about his nation.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19- The requiem - was now a political weapon.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- In 1962, Benjamin Britten - wrote his War Requiem.
0:12:24 > 0:12:30- It was composed for the consecration - of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral...
0:12:30 > 0:12:33- ..following its bombing in 1940.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- This was by no means - a traditional requiem.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42- # Dies illa
0:12:43 > 0:12:47- # Dies irae
0:12:48 > 0:12:52- # Calamitatis
0:12:53 > 0:12:59- # Et miseriae #
0:13:02 > 0:13:06- The original requiem was often - written for a specific person.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12- Britten dedicated his War Requiem - to the friends he lost in the War...
0:13:13 > 0:13:15- ..and, through that, - to all the fallen.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24- You hear the bells - - the death knells.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- # Requiem aeternam #
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- We know this is the War Requiem...
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- ..so the words requiem aeternam - - eternal rest...
0:13:36 > 0:13:40- ..refer to the war dead, - from every nation.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48- # Requiem aeternam #
0:13:50 > 0:13:54- I saw its 1965 Welsh premiere - in Swansea.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00- Swansea was still scarred - by the Luftwaffe bombings in 1960s.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- It was a city - which had suffered greatly...
0:14:04 > 0:14:06- ..during World War II.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10- The War Requiem - resonated with that audience.
0:14:11 > 0:14:18- # Lacrimosa
0:14:19 > 0:14:27- # Dies illa
0:14:28 > 0:14:35- # Lacrimosa
0:14:37 > 0:14:45- # Lacrimosa #
0:14:45 > 0:14:49- It was an experimental work - on many levels...
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- ..in which Britten combined - elements of the requiem Mass...
0:14:54 > 0:14:58- ..with a poem by Wilfred Owen, - who was killed in the Great War.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01- Britten wrote on the score...
0:15:01 > 0:15:05- .."My subject is War, - and the pity of War."
0:15:05 > 0:15:10- The weaving of the imagery in Owen's - poetry with the Latin requiem...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- ..it totally inspired.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- It's a remarkable modern riff...
0:15:15 > 0:15:17- ..on the theme of requiem.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21- It's doing something very different - yet drawing deeply from tradition.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- # Bugles sang #
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- Bugles sang, - saddening the evening air.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37- The poetry always transports us - from the ritual to a human level...
0:15:37 > 0:15:39- ..and to human suffering.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49- Benjamin Britten deals with - life and death in his War Requiem...
0:15:50 > 0:15:54- ..and here, the Dies Irae expresses - Judgement Day in the trenches.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- Who lives? Who dies?
0:16:09 > 0:16:13- You really do sense - the great truths of life, death...
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- ..who we're going to kill, - who we're going to spare.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- You can't get bigger questions - than this.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- As the work reaches its climax...
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- ..two soldiers who fought each other - on the battlefield...
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- ..meet after their death.
0:16:36 > 0:16:43- # I am the enemy you killed
0:16:46 > 0:16:48- # My friend #
0:16:49 > 0:16:51- I am the enemy you killed, - my friend.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55- That's where reconciliation - comes into it.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59- It brings a tear to the eye - to think of all those deaths.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- Lives lost for no logical reason.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08- Pacifism is the real power - behind the War Requiem...
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- ..from start to finish.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17- I think every second of it - is a masterpiece of perfection.
0:17:18 > 0:17:31- # Amen #
0:17:32 > 0:17:36- This is a unique interpretation - of the requiem...
0:17:36 > 0:17:41- ..but Britten said his musical and - theatrical inspiration was Verdi.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- # Domine, Domine, Domine
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- # Libera, libera, libera me
0:17:49 > 0:17:57- # Libera me
0:17:57 > 0:18:02- # De morte aeterna
0:18:07 > 0:18:13- # Libera me
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- # Libera me, Domine, - De morte aeterna
0:18:30 > 0:18:35- # In die illa tremenda
0:18:38 > 0:18:45- # Libera me
0:18:48 > 0:19:01- # Libera me #
0:19:03 > 0:19:07- It would be hard to choose a requiem - for my own funeral.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12- I'd probably cherry-pick...
0:19:13 > 0:19:17- ..from different, magnificent works.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- As a chapelgoer, - there will be no place...
0:19:22 > 0:19:27- ..for any of the great movements - from a requiem at my funeral.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- Faure's Libera Me - is one of my favourites.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- The first movement - from the Brahms requiem...
0:19:39 > 0:19:45- ..is a brilliant example of what our - attitude towards death should be.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48- Mozart's Ave Verum - would be suitable.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- It's so simple.
0:19:51 > 0:19:52- Verdi's Lacrimosa.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- I haven't chosen a requiem - for my funeral.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- It changes from day to day.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- A Welsh hymn - O Fryniau Caersalem.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- What would I have - from the Mozart requiem? Tuba Mirum.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- They'd have to get a bass - to sing it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14- I'll look into it in 50 years' time - and make my decision!
0:20:17 > 0:20:19- The final chords of the Britten.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27- Yes. I think those would form - a pretty balanced four corners.
0:20:30 > 0:20:43- # Voca me cum benedictis
0:20:43 > 0:20:49- # Benedictis... #
0:20:52 > 0:20:56- One thing which we all share - is our attitude towards death.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02- Death is the great unknown and - the requiem resonates with us all.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05- It makes us think about death...
0:21:05 > 0:21:08- ..and we can draw comfort - from its message.
0:21:09 > 0:21:20- # Cor contritum quasi cinis... #
0:21:21 > 0:21:24- You must believe in something.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26- Maybe not belief but hope.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29- You must believe - the requiem has a purpose.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- We must have remembrance - and remain hopeful.
0:21:33 > 0:21:39- # Lacrimosa dies illa
0:21:39 > 0:21:44- # Qua resurget ex favilla... #
0:21:47 > 0:21:51- It's an age-old subject - which continues to challenge us.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- The big question which has always - worried human beings.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00- How do we deal with the thing in - the face of which we are powerless?
0:22:00 > 0:22:02- Namely, our end.
0:22:03 > 0:22:13- # Pie Jesu Domine
0:22:16 > 0:22:31- # Dona eis requiem
0:22:32 > 0:22:53- # Dona eis requiem
0:22:55 > 0:23:01- # Amen
0:23:06 > 0:23:20- # Amen #
0:23:43 > 0:23:45- S4C subtitles by Eirlys A Jones
0:23:45 > 0:23:46- .