Requiem is a composition for solo baritone, children's choir, chorus, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The piece was commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria for the 2003 bicentennial of the birth of French composer

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

. Rouse, Christopher
Reqiem: Program Note by the Composer
2007. Retrieved March 5, 2015. It was completed July 12, 2002 and premiered March 25, 2007 at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand A ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, with the conductor

Grant Gershon Grant Gershon (born November 10, 1960) is a Grammy Award winning American conductor and pianist. He is Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Resident Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera, member of the Board of Councillors for the USC T ...

leading the

Los Angeles Master Chorale The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the t ...

and their orchestra, the

Los Angeles Children's Chorus Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) is a children's choral youth organization based in Los Angeles. LACC has appeared in more than 300 performances with such organizations as the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master ...

, and the baritone

Sanford Sylvan Sanford Sylvan (December 19, 1953 – January 29, 2019) was an American baritone. Biography Sanford Mead Sylvan was born in New York City on December 19, 1953, and grew up in Syosset, New York. Starting at age 13 he participated in the Juillia ...

Composition

The duration of the Requiem is approximately 90 minutes. Though it was commissioned to commemorate composer

, the piece contains no references to the music of Berlioz. Rouse was more inspired by the ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was bu ...

'' by English composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

. Similar to the ''War Requiem'', the composition follows the liturgical

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

text, but additionally incorporates text from other sources, specifically lyrics from European

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

s and lines from the poetry of

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for ...

, and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and polit ...

9/11

Having completed the work shortly after the events of the 2001

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, Rouse, after much personal deliberation, elected not to dedicate the Requiem to the victims of the attacks. In the program notes, Rouse commented:

Reception

Mark Swed of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' lavished the Requiem with praise, declaring it "the first great traditional American Requiem" and called it "a Requiem of wondrous mixed emotions." George Grella of the ''New York Classical Review'' called the piece "fascinating, massive, ungainly, often moving, sometimes unhinged: if not a completely successful composition, at least an impressive showcase for musicians and composer’s craft alike." Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

premiere, saying, "The predominant mood of Mr. Rouse’s 'Requiem' is one of uncomprehending grief and fury almost as if, bereft of faith, it were mourning the death of consolation itself. But then there are glimpses of hope. Mr. Imbrailo’s limpid and smoothly flowing rendition of Jonson’s 'Farewell, thou child of my right hand' was joined by a fleeting, radiant flute solo. And when the Brooklyn Youth Chorus entered with the Marian hymn 'Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,' sung with a gleaming, pure sound from a side balcony, the effect was powerfully emotional, even as it skirted the fine line between pathos and kitsch." At the New York City premiere, conductor Alan Gilbert said of the Requiem, "This work goes farther or comes from deeper in him than almost any other piece of his. It takes a lot out of you both technically but emotionally as well." Rouse himself said of the piece, "All of that was to try to put across the idea of facing death, whether you're facing it yourself or if you're going on after the death of a loved one. But it is a very personal work and I think it's the best work I've composed."

References

{{Christopher Rouse Compositions by Christopher Rouse 2002 compositions

Rouse Rouse may refer to: Places * Rouse, California, United States, a census-designated place * Rouse, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community * Rouses Point, New York, United States, a village * Rouse Islands, Antarctica * Cape Rouse, An ...

21st-century classical music Commissioned music