There is a long tradition for composers writing requiems as concert works (in contrast to music that is created strictly as part of a liturgical service). The requiem texts lend themselves to potent, dramatic musical settings expressing a range of profound, emotionally charged, and complex ideas. Over the past several centuries, many composers have turned to the chorus/soloist/orchestra model to express these ideas (Mozart, Berlioz, Brahms, Verdi, Fauré, Duruflé, Britten, Rutter to name just a few). My requiem comes from this tradition.
The ideas that are the basis for Requiem have been gestating for over a decade, but it wasn’t until I began discussing the possibility of creating the piece for Christian Lane and the musicians at Emmanual Church that I began work in earnest. The work was completed in late 2024, with revisions taking place throughout the beginning of this year.
The tonal structure for the entire requiem is based on the musical material laid out in the first movement (Introitus/Kyrie), which serves as a blueprint for the tonal centers of six movements that follow (B minor, Db major, Bb major, Bb minor, C minor, F# minor, and finally back to Bb minor) ending with the movement In Paradisum in D major.
I present text in both Latin and English, with the choral music set in Latin and the vocal soloists singing in English (a notable exception is the Pie Jesu, which is performed by a duet of solo soprano and alto voices in Latin). Because there is such potency in both languages—Latin widely recognized as the language of the mass, and English as the primary language for most of the American audience—I found that marrying the two languages offered a depth that could not be achieved by using either language alone. Using both languages helps define the roles of the chorus and solo vocal forces, acknowledging the traditional Latin mass texts in the choir while casting the soloists as the primary “story tellers” of the piece.
Creating this requiem has been a deeply personal endeavor. As I enter into what I can only predict will be the last several decades of my life, it seems fitting to compose a work that reflects on mortality and commemorates those who have passed. In particular, I am mindful of those teachers and mentors, now gone, who have guided me throughout my life, and who continue to live on through my memory and through my music.