Wednesday 16 March 2016

Three requiems and a graphic

A delightful time was recently spent enjoying a Music Day with the East Cornwall Bach Choir rehearsing Mozart's Requiem in D minor for a 'scratch' performance in the evening. What a wonderful work to get immersed in and a work with a fascinating history, which I'll come to shortly.

As is my customary practice when doing a bit of note bashing, I take a look at what's on YouTube that might be useful. For such a well known work as the Requiem, there's a lot to view but one clip particularly grabbed my attention. It was the first movement performed by the Bezdin Ensemble, under the direction of Adina Spire, with a striking graphical score by a YouTuber called Smailin. I've always found that visuals enhance my understanding of musical ideas and structures and Smailin's does this in a way that really hits the spot for me. It's just a terrific device to depict a masterwork and has really added to my pleasure of experiencing Mozart. For any nerds reading this, try following the written score whilst watching Smailin's visuals and, well, just enjoy the ride.

To come back to the history of the piece is to come back to an intriguing tale, shrouded in uncertainty and not a little mystery. That it was Mozart's last work in not disputed but the facts have often been coloured and embroidered. Mozart wrote it in the last weeks of his life and it seems to have been an anonymous commission. The commissioner's envoy, in order to preserve anonymity, paid Mozart several unannounced visits, like a messenger from another world. One account describes Mozart as being possessed by a feverish desire to complete the Requiem, being conscious of his approaching demise. It was his own requiem - a musical composition for his death.

The association of the Requiem with Mozart's death brought to mind two contemporary pieces that could also be regarded as requiems. The first of these is David Bowie's 'parting gift' Lazarus. Both poignant and chilling, it was written and recorded when he knew he was dying of cancer. His own requiem - a musical composition for his death.


The above clip gives the lyrics but if you want to see the 'official' video, you'll have to link to it here.

And the second is Hurt sung by Johnny Cash. OK, I know he didn't write it (that honour belongs to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) but his is such a powerful rendition that, for me, he 'owns' the song. It was recorded when he also knew that he was dying of cancer. His own requiem - a musical composition for his death.

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