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Cherubini's Requiem

May 1, 2004, 7:30 pm
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception,
Portland

Music

Requiem Mass in C MinorLuigi Cherubini
Introit
Graduale
Dies Irae
Offertorium
Sanctus
Pie Jesu
Agnus Dei

I'm Goin' Up a YonderWalter Hawkins, arr. Paul Read

Soon-ah Will Be DoneWilliam L. Dawson

From the program notes: The Requiem Mass in C Minor was cited by Schumann as being "without equal in the world." Under commission from Louis XVIII, it was composed in 1816 for four-part choir and orchestra. This Mass is unusual in that it calls for no solo parts. It represents what Beethoven and many of Cherubini's contemporaries particularly admired about his style: the ability to weave polyphonic virtuosity, Classical stylistic polish, and a truly Romantic sense of drama into music of extraordinary depth and power. Even Berlioz considered the final decrescendo in the Agnus Dei to surpass "everything that has ever been written of the kind." Upon hearing a performance of this work, Beethoven declared to Cherubini that if he himself ever wrote a requiem, this would be his model. The Requiem was performed at Beethoven's funeral in 1827.

— Ruth Covell