Requiem (Gilles)
The Requiem by Jean Gilles is still the composer's most frequently performed work. He composed the funeral mass towards the end of the 17th century.
Occupation and structure
Gilles' Requiem is written for four vocal soloists ( soprano , alto , tenor , bass ), choir and orchestra . It contains neither a tract nor the sequence Dies irae , and consists of seven parts:
history
Although the exact date of the composition has not been established, the work was apparently composed shortly after Gilles was appointed maître de musique at Toulouse Cathedral in December 1697 . The fast movements often have echoes of dance rhythms, the choral parts show a convincing balance between polyphonic passages and homophonic declamation. As a final increase in the overall system, the work is crowned by the choral fugue Requiem aeternam .
Gilles' Requiem became one of the most valued compositions in France in the 18th century. It came at the composer's own funeral under the direction of André Campra , as well as at the funerals of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Louis XV. - in a version edited by Michel Corrette - for the performance. Marc-Antoine Laugier writes in Sentiment d'un harmoniphile (1756) that at that time “there was hardly a musical funeral service at which Gilles 'mass was not performed.” Together with Gilles' motets Diligam te Domine and Beatus quem elegisti delighted His Requiem in the Concerts spirituels was very popular until around 1775. Johann Mattheson counts the mass in the magazine Der Musicalische Patriot as one of the “most beautiful musical works”.
literature
- John Hajdu Heyer, in: MGG , Person Part Volume 7, Sp. 959-960
Web links
- Requiem : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ MGG , part volume 8, column 166
- ^ Johann Mattheson: The Musical Patriot. First consideration. Hamburg 1728, p. 13 ( digitized version ).