Requiem in D minor contains:
01. Introit & Kyrie
02. Graduale
03. Dies Irae
04. Offertorium
05. Sanctus
06. Pie Jesu
07. Agnus Dei
Source: | booklet of cd EMI 6294622
|
♫ 01. Introit & Kyrie
© EMI 6294622
♫ 02. Graduale
© EMI 6294622
♫ 03. Dies Irae
© EMI 6294622
♫ 04. Offertorium
© EMI 6294622
♫ 05. Sanctus
© EMI 6294622
♫ 06. Pie Jesu
© EMI 6294622
♫ 07. Agnus Dei
© EMI 6294622
The Requiem in D minor, instead, was written in 1836. In 1834 the archbishop of Paris had objected to the use of the Requiem in C minor at a funeral, on the grounds that it contained female voices. Therefore, Cherubini decided to compose a new work for three-part male chorus and orchestra.
The 'Kyrie' starts off in a major tonality, but the orchestra postlude drives the music into a minor. Preceded by a gracious theme played by the violoncellos, the 'Graduale' is sung completely without any instrumental accompaniment pre-announced by a rapid ascending scale played by the higher sectors of the string instruments, the 'Dies irae' breaks out. For the first time the orchestral and vocal ripieno is heard, and the tutti effect is electrifying. During the entire duration of the movement, less lively pieces are alternated to dramatic and passionate outbursts; the final part, 'Pie Jesu' moves into a major tonality, but once again it is countered by the orchestra. The 'Offertorium' brings us back to the major key, this being a good example of Cherubini's typical ability to associate fully harmonic pieces with intensively chromatic ones. The 'Sanctus', also in major key, is even grander: the grand harmonic opening almost gives the feeling of a long chord in B flat major. The 'Pie Jesu', the most serene section of the work, takes us back into the minor key and to the "a cappella" style of the 'Gradual', but this time with brief inclusions of the woodwinds. The three-part beginning of the 'Agnus Dei' is touched on every time by the strings with an ascending chromatic scale, after which the music turns elsewhere to resume the atmosphere of the initial part of the work.
His equally fine, though more simple (than the 1816-work) Requiem in D minor, scored for male chorus and orchestra, is a purely liturgical work, intended for, and used at, his own funeral in 1842.
Author: | Steven Chang-Lin Yu |