Good stuff: Saint-Saëns Requiem
Check it out on CPDL.
Very different in character from the more popular Mozart and Fauré settings, this one strikes me as being overtly liturgical. The choral parts are easy, yet there is plenty of musical interest (check out the “Tuba mirum”). No brass or timpani are in the scoring (according to Kalmus online, anyway).
I’d love to see this one get done more often. If there is a case to be made for use of full liturgical Requiem settings, I think Saint-Saëns is a much better example with which to argue than Berlioz, Mozart, Fauré, or Verdi.
Duruflé - not sure here. ISTM this is kind of a hybrid liturgical/concert setting.
posted by Cantor @ 2:53 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Thanks for the link!!
Actually, it solved a big problem for a friend of mine...and I'll keep that link handy for my use.
So many of the post-baroque Requiem settings say more about the composer than the deceased, I'm afraid. Maybe for state funerals or more public things, but I'd prefer Victoria, Guerrero, Magalhaes, La Rue, or a chanted Requiem. The biggest I could see is the Biber (which is exquisite!).
Many years ago, I learned and taught the Saint-Saëns Ave Verum Corpus to my choir. It was a huge and pleasant surprise to them. I found the whole setting infused with a sensibility of prayer.
Todd
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