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Requiem is a setting of the Latin
The Requiem is structured in eight
Mass for the dead
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, ...
for four soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ by Frank Martin. Composed in 1971 and 1972, it was premiered at Lausanne Cathedral on 4 May 1973, with the composer conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It has been described as the composer's masterpiece.
History
Frank Martin composed the Requiem, a setting of the LatinMass for the dead
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, ...
, towards the end of his life, returning from a Mediterranean cruise in 1971. He said that he was inspired to compose the work by visiting three places of worship, San Marco in Venice, Monreale Cathedral
Monreale Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Nuova di Monreale; Duomo di Monreale) is a Catholic church in Monreale, Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. One of the greatest existent examples of Norman architecture, it was ...
in Palermo, and the Greek temples at Paestum near Naples. He set it for four soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and big organ ("pour quatuor vocal solo, chœur mixte, orchestre et grand orgue"), and completed the work in 1972. He conducted the world premiere at Lausanne Cathedral on 4 May 1973, with vocal soloists Elisabeth Speiser, Ria Bollen
Ria Bollen (born 11 February 1942) is a Flemish contralto, who had an international career as a concert singer between 1965 and 1992. Her broad repertoire included Bach's Passions, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'', especially work ...
, Éric Tappy
Éric Tappy (born 19 May 1931) is a Swiss operatic tenor.Jacques Lonchampt ''L'opéra aujourd'hui; journal de musique'', 1970 p153 "On a découvert un étonnant Zoroastre en Éric Tappy."
Tappy was born in Lausanne. He studied with Fernando Carpi ...
and Peter Lagger
Peter Lagger (7 September 192617 September 1979) was a Swiss bass in opera and concert. He was a member of European opera houses, finally the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and appeared as a guest internationally. He took part in world premieres such as L ...
, organist André Luy
André Luy (12 January 1927 – 6 April 2005) was a Swiss classical organist.
Life
Born in Tramelan, Luy attended school in Saint-Imier. After studying at the conservatories of Neuchâtel and Geneva, he was organist at La Chaux-de-Fonds, then ...
, the Ars Laeta vocal ensemble and the Union chorale de Lausanne choir, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, in a performance that was recorded. The Requiem was published by Universal Edition
Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...
in 1976. The first performance recording was reissued in 1991 on CD, and has been described as authoritative.
Music
The Requiem is structured in eight movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
s:
# Introitus
# Kyrie
# Dies Irae
# Offertorium
# Sanctus
# Agnus Dei
# In Paradisum
# Communion
The work is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
, alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
, tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
and bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
), four-part choir (at times divided
Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...
), orchestra, harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecĂn; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
and organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
. The movements are organized in subsections with sometimes different tempo markings and scoring. The beginning of the Introitus, marked '' Molto lento'' (very slowly), "Requiem aeternam", is set for soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
and tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
soloists with women's choir. The central "Te decet" is set for the four soloists, leading to a repeat of the first sentence, now for the two soloists and the full choir. The Kyrie is a canon, marked ''Andante'', for all solo and choral voices.
The Dies irae sequence begins ''Vivace'' with a speaking choir and a battery of percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
. The offertory "Domine Jesu Christe" is marked ''Andante con moto'', and is set for divided choir voices with harpsichord and strings. Sanctus begins with a six-part choir (SAATTB), marked ''Largo''. Agnus Dei, also ''Largo'', is for alto solo and organ. In Paradisum, marked ''Andante molto moderato'', is scored for soprano solo and six-part choir (SATTBB) with four solo wind instruments (two flutes, oboe and clarinet), strings, harpsichord and organ. Communion begins with "Lux aeterna", again led by the soprano solo, followed by all voices.
The duration is given as 45 minutes.
References
Further reading
* Frank Martin, ''Lettres Ă Victor Desarzens'' (introduction, notes and index by Peter Sulzer); L'Ă‚ge d'Homme, Lausanne, 1988.External links
{{authority control Compositions by Frank Martin 1972 compositionsMartin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...