The Requiem by

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

was written in 1932, but first published almost fifty years later in 1981. It is set for unaccompanied choir with soloists, using a combination of texts from the traditional

Requiem mass 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, ...

and other sacred sources:

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a boo ...

("The Lord is my shepherd"),

Psalm 121 Psalm 121 is the 121st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint a ...

("I will lift up mine eyes"), "Salvator mundi" ("O Saviour of the world" in English), "Requiem aeternam" (two different settings), and "I heard a voice from heaven". After the death of his son Michael in 1935, Howells used much of the material from the Requiem in his work

Hymnus Paradisi ''Hymnus Paradisi'' is a choral work by Herbert Howells for soprano and tenor soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra. The work was inspired in part by the death from polio of his son Michael in 1935. Howells wrote the work from 1936 to 1938, draw ...

for soloists, large chorus and orchestra, which was first performed at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

in 1950. The original ''a capella'' Requiem remained unperformed until 1980, when the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British c ...

gave the premiere performance under John Poole, with the score published by Novello the following year.

References

Compositions by Herbert Howells Choral compositions 1932 compositions Funerary and memorial compositions {{classical-composition-stub

See also

References