From: dave@stl.panasonic.COM (Dave LaDelfa)
Subject: Re: Requia
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 07:29:50 GMT

In article <r8ubopx@Unify.Com> dbrus.Unify.Com.ceb@unify.uucp (Caroline E. Bryan) writes:
>Contrary to the recent assertion by one of our opera buffs that non-opera
>classical music fans invariably point to symphonies as the only music they
>listen to, I'm a devoted fan of Requiems (Requia if your Latin's not so
>rusty).  Can anyone recommend (with reasons) any specific requia (w/ or w/o
>particular recordings)?  I already know and enjoy
>
>	Durufle
>	Faure
>	Gilles (need a pointer to a CD recording of this)
>	Mozart (about the only Mozart I like -- he was over-pianoed in my
>		youth)
>
>I know I listen to others but they're all 19 miles from here.  Can someone
>recommend others?

If you permit motion away from the liturgical text, please check out
Britten's War Requiem, Hindemith's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd," and John Rutter's Requiem. 

The Britten is a 88-minute piece for 3 soloists, 2 orchestras, and 2
choirs and it adds to the latin text poems by WWI poet Wilfred Owen.
Beyond the fact that it's a big profound anti-war statement, it's a
really fine piece of writing (perhaps Britten's most accessable large-
scale work) and is regarded as one of the great choral works of this
century by lots of important books. 

Hindemith's was written in memory of FDR on text by Walt Whitman
written in memory of Lincoln. The Robert Shaw recording on Telarc
got all sorts of acclaim and awards when it came out in 1987. I
bought it and loved it, in spite of the fact that most of Hindemith's
stuff leaves me dry (except for the trombone sonata and oh yes I 
guess I like the viola sonatas too).

John Rutter is a contemporary (meaning still alive and writing) 
composer who writes and records music that is easy to enjoy from
listening number one, and is therefore looked down upon as an
unsophisticated hack by modernist composers and music critics. His 
Requiem is pretty and catchy without being soppy or banal (I think);
I have to admit it's a cheap thrill, especially compared to the
War Requiem, but it's a good cheap thrill and it seems to get
better with repeated listenings. By the way, if you like the 
Requiem, check out Rutter's Magnificat. It rocks.

I ought to mention Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem," because it was
the first CD I ever bought. I thought it was great until I 
heard the War Requiem, from which all of the best parts of ALW's
Requiem are stolen, and the Rutter, which seems to succeed in all
the areas that ALW comes up short (e.g. tunefulness, rhythmic 
vitality, orchestration acumen). I won't recommend this one.

There's also the cool Ligeti requiem and I think someone has 
already mentioned the Robert Schumann (I think he wrote two of them
and I can't remember which one really blew me away the first time
I heard it) and the Saint-Saens (My heart weeps for how unjust
this piece's obscurity is). Perhaps someone else who likes these
can suggest which of the currently available recordings are 
the better ones.



-- 
Dave LaDelfa                            Speech Technology Laboratory
dave%stl-sb@uunet.uu.net                Santa Barbara, CA
dave@stl.panasonic.com			A Nice Place to Live

Newsgroups: rec.music.classical