Requiem in D minor (Cherubini)

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The Requiem No. 2 in. D minor for male choir and orchestra was 1834-36 by Italian composer Luigi Cherubini composed at the suggestion of the Paris archbishop.

Emergence

The then Archbishop of Paris, Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen , criticized Cherubini's first Requiem ( Requiem in C minor ) in 1834 because it also required female voices, and prohibited a performance at a funeral mass in Paris. As a result, the 74-year-old Cherubini composed the Requiem in D minor only for male voices, but it took two years to complete on September 24, 1836 in Montlignon .

reception

The first performance took place again a year and a half later on March 25, 1838 in Paris. Although the first Requiem was a greater success, the second is of no inferior musical quality and - like Cherubini as a composer during his lifetime - was celebrated as a great church music creation. At the composer's request, it was performed at his own funeral ceremony in spring 1842. After his death, he and his works were largely forgotten, including this Requiem, which, in contrast to the Requiem in C minor, is seldom performed these days.

occupation

Cherubini chose a classical orchestra for the line-up: 1 large flute , 1 piccolo , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones , 2 timpani and strings .

The choir parts were composed as a three-part male choir in accordance with French custom, whereby frequent partitions in all three positions often lead to four or even five-part sections.

Subdivision

  • Introitus et Kyrie : The introitus is in the basic key of D minor and begins after a short orchestral introduction with polyphonic sequencing of several short choral themes. The main instrument used is not the violin, but the cello. The violin is not used for the first time until the Dies Irae. A recapitulation of the first theme is followed by the Kyrie in B major , which modulates back towards D minor towards the end and ends the choral movement by means of a plagalous ending from G minor to D major. The orchestral finale at the end, on the other hand, modulates back into the basic key of D minor.
  • Gradual : The gradual, which would follow the epistle in a liturgical performance , begins with a short A minor - full cadence , which the choir imitates - until the end a cappella - in A minor and then once in the parallel key of F major is sequenced. In the following sequencing themes, Cherubini's well-known chromatic voice guidance becomes clear. The piece ends with a full closure in A major .
  • Dies irae : In the first part, the composed death sequence alternates between homophonic fortissimo sections, which are kept short and concise, and canonized and imitated polyphonic tone sequences in mezzopiano. From the point Judex ergo there is a supposed calm, which is broken by the fortissimo of the Rex tremendae , but returns to fons pietatis . Cherubini shortened the following section using the polytexture method (each voice sings two verses at the same time) to the short, loud Confutatis , which in turn leads to a quiet section. After the plaintive Lacrimosa , which is again in D minor, there is a change to D major for the final, seemingly peaceful Pie Jesu . As in Kyrie, the key returns to D minor during the orchestral finish.
  • Offertory : The offertory, in F major, begins majestically with the invocation of the King of Honor, the Lord Jesus, and turns into a calm part decorated with lots of chromaticism. The lovely sounding Sed signifer is sung alone by the tenors with the high orchestral voices, before the basses begin to the short, rapid fugue Quam olim Abrahae . The following Hostias et preces is again in Larghetto and D minor , which again has a lot of chromatics and ends in a floating C major ending. The conclusion is the recapitulation of the fugue Quam olim Abrahae , which is lengthened in the following narrow sections and previously combined with the chromatic elements of the homophonic parts. Here the later influence of Cherubini on Rossini's tonal language becomes clear.
  • Sanctus : The solemn Sanctus is in B flat major and is forte to fortissimo at the beginning and towards the end; only the short middle section Benedictus is piano. The integral theme is the Hosanna in excelsis calls in front of the Benedictus and in sequenced form thereafter until the end, as well as the opulently used kettledrums.
  • Pie Jesu : The Pie Jesu, performed at a liturgical performance at the blessing, begins with a short clarinet motif accompanied by the woodwinds in G minor, which the choir uses a cappella three times; In the choir pauses in between, the clarinet motif sounds again and again with the woodwind accompaniment. The final chord of the second part of the choir changes to G major. The third chorus section is followed by a brief transition to a fourth processing at the word sempiternam . The orchestral ending of the woodwinds takes up the motif again before ending in G in unison.
  • Agnus Dei : The final Agnus Dei is again in the basic key of D minor. The theme of Agnus Dei is repeated three times in imitation, and each time the a cappella movement dona eis requiem follows, each time varying harmoniously, but returning to the beginning of the theme after D minor. The third choral movement is followed by short tone sequences with diminished seventh chords, and the bass voices imitate an organ point , while the tenors move freely in three to four parts in harmony. A short ascent to the Lux aeterna marks the first high point, which it will leave again in the Quia pius . The individual choir voices sing successively a descending melody sequence in B flat major, each accompanied by the oboe (tenor I), clarinet (tenor II) or bassoon (bass). The long final note of the bass leads to the final section, in which the basses on the D imitate an organ point and are followed by the tenors on the A, offset by two bars, as a canon, while the orchestral parts move freely around the D organ point. For the final intensification of the choir into the Forte des luceat eis , there is another change to D major, before the orchestra quietly ends the Requiem in D minor after the final choir chord that ends in D minor.

literature

  • Cherubini, Luigi: Requiem in D minor for male choir and orchestra , piano reduction by Hugo Ulrich, revised by Rudolf Lück. Published by Edition Peters (No. 51).