Requiem Reborn (In Seven Parts) for Soprano, Rock Tenor, Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Rock Group.
In terms of genre, the work can be defined as a setting of traditional Requiem mass, yet stylistic features shows the aspiration to integrate the symphonic principles of musical organization with the expression means of rock music (initially, the title of the work was “Sympho Rock Requiem”).
The artistic motivations of the work are based on author’s personal experience witnessing deep social deformations, civil convulsions and decisive historical turning-points. Besides the timeless philosophical reflections on subsistence (life and death), the motives of liberation from a totalitarian system – extremely antagonistic towards “extraneous” cultures, both sacred (religion on the whole) and rock – are present in the work. These were the determinative motives to choose the actual title. According to the author, “Requiem Reborn” sounds as a polysemous alliteration containing both the allusion to death’s transformation into new life and the idea of spiritual rebirth. The English word within the title is used not for the sake of the alliteration only, but also to reflect the presence of rock music attributes in the work (no need to remind that those were the English-speaking countries that gave birth to rock music).
The process of composing the work had an interesting distinction: through the Internet (
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/konstantinov.lt), it was seen by composers and musicians from all over the world. The uploaded scores were (and still are) receiving favourable feedback, either in the form of a review (directly on the site), or through personal emails sharing the authors’ opinions. The matters of the title were also widely discussed on Sibeliusmusic Forum.
The author deeply believes in the ability of the work to inhibit the process of cultural polarization by which the society is touched nowadays. It is obvious that the “high” and “pop” cultures tend rather to avoid each other, let alone any idea of their integration. According to the philosopher and sociologist Leonidas Donskis, “there is no good in such a separation – it does not stimulate both the cultures for openness or democracy. Moreover, the high and popular cultures, without giving impulses to each other, can even increase and dramatize the social discrepancies leading to the cultural abyss within the society. It would be much better to have a silent dialogue between those cultures without waiting for social sanction.”
The possibility of such a dialogue also appears as another basic author’s motivation: the “high” (both traditional and modern) culture works conjointly with “democratic” rock.