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Programme Notes for the 2003/2004 Season

Requiem
(Giuseppe Verdi)
Concert date : Saturday 27 March 2004

Born into a middle-class family in 1813, Giuseppe Verdi received musical instruction from the age of four. By the age of nine he was deputising for a local organist and obviously possessed a precocious talent. Despite the setback of being refused entry to the Milan conservatory, he took private lessons. In the mid 1830s, after a spell as "maestro di musica" in his hometown of Busseto, he returned to Milan and began composing. His first opera received its Milan premiere within nine months of his arrival. His reputation was established when he wrote Nabucco in 1842. Thus began an operatic legacy.

At one point he produced sixteen operas within eleven years. After the premiere of Aida in 1871, and with twenty-six operas completed, the operatic world had to wait sixteen years for more, then to be presented with two Shakespeare-inspired masterpieces, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1889). Away from the opera house, Verdi spent much time managing his farmlands. He also entered political life, albeit briefly: he was a deputy in the first Italian parliament in the early 1860s. Verdi's death in January 1901 resulted in a national outpouring of grief. Shops and theatres were closed, there were special editions of newspapers and hundreds of thousands of mourners accompanied his funeral procession. As the procession left, a massed choir, under the direction of Arturo Toscanini, sang "Va pensiero", the chorus of the Hebrew slaves, from Nabucco.

The genesis of Verdi's Requiem dates back to the death of his fellow composer and compatriot, Gioacchino Rossini. Rossini died in 1868, and, at Verdi's suggestion, a commemorative Requiem Mass was to be performed on the first anniversary of Rossini's death. Verdi had proposed that several of Italy's leading composers should contribute a movement each to the work. Sadly, this work was neither completed nor performed. Nevertheless, the "Libera me" that Verdi had written as his contribution was retained and became the final movement of his own Requiem.

Verdi was complimented on this "Libera me" by a fellow composer, who claimed that it was "the most beautiful, the greatest and the most colossally poetic piece that anyone could imagine". With praise such as this, it is possible that Verdi was contemplating writing his own Requiem Mass at this time. Certainly, with its reprisals of both the "Dies irae" and the opening "Requiem", the "Libera me" holds the key to much of the final work. However, it was not until the death of the famous Italian writer and poet, Alessandro Manzoni, that Verdi began work on his Requiem in earnest.

Verdi had much admired Alessandro Manzoni's writing in his youth - he had read Manzoni's famous work, "The Betrothed" whilst still in his teens. The great man's death had a significant impact on the composer, as it did on the nation as a whole. Manzoni had played a major role in the development of Italian fiction and his writing encouraged political, moral and religious debate within a country struggling for unity and independence. Not long after the writer's death, Verdi wrote to his publisher, telling him of his intention to write a Requiem Mass to be performed on the first anniversary of Manzoni's death.

Verdi worked on the Requiem during the winter of 1873 and the spring of 1874 and it was duly premiered in Milan at the San Marco Church, on May 22nd 1874. Verdi conducted the performance, which featured soloists from the Milanese opera house, La Scala. It proved to be a huge success and between 1874 and 1875 it was performed 15 times in Paris, 4 times in Vienna and 3 times in London. For its London performances Verdi insisted that it be performed in the Royal Albert Hall. He had less control over the numerous performances that subsequently took place in his home country. The work proved to be so popular that settings for military bands and for four pianos were often to be heard!

It would seem that most people shared the opinion of Johannes Brahms, that "only a genius could have written such a work". The famous conductor Hans von Bulow, viewed the work less favourably, and referred to it as "an opera in ecclesiastical robes" and Wagner is reported to have said, "it is better to say nothing". Nevertheless, Hans von Bulow's statement may be less of an insult than first appears. Verdi composed over twenty operas, and yet, when considering which work best displays his genius, the writer and Verdi-expert Julian Budden chooses the Requiem, "Into it he poured all the purely musical resources that had developed in the course of twenty-six operas, and which he could here exploit to the full."

The text of the Requiem is largely based on the Roman Catholic "Mass for the Dead". However, Verdi did select the specific texts that he wanted (for example, there is no "Gloria" or "Credo") and he re-arranged the order of the texts to suit his dramatic purpose. The text of the Requiem inevitably leads to reflection on universal preoccupations such as death, God and humanity. As a prolific writer of opera, Verdi was used to manipulating character and plot into a dramatic work. Yet it is perhaps this Requiem text that gave him the ultimate freedom to express emotions beyond the dramatic confines of opera.

The opening of the "Requiem" is a prayer: a whispered and hesitant prayer for the dead. There is more assurance in the imitative "Te decet hymnus", before the music returns to the opening prayer. The "Kyrie" follows, and as the soloists make their grand entrance, so the intimacy of the opening disappears.

Next follows the "Dies irae", the core of the piece and subdivided into nine sections. The words are from a medieval poem by Thomas of Celano, a friend and follower of St Francis of Assisi. The horrifying depiction of judgement day presented by the text is matched by Verdi's music. The orchestra punches out the introductory chords and the chorus enters with, "Day of anger, day of terror".

After a sudden silence, trumpets (on- and off-stage) crescendo into a fanfare, heralding the "Tuba mirum" (Trumpets sounding loud as thunder). This is followed by the "Mors stupebit" (Death shall marvel). This brief bass solo is poignant in its repetition of the word "mors" (death), particularly towards the end, when each utterance of "mors" is followed by near silence.

The following mezzo-soprano solo, "Liber scriptus" (Open lies the book before them), is punctuated by ominous snatches of the "Dies irae" until the chorus finally erupts in a full reprisal. This then subsides into a more soothing trio, for soprano, mezzo-soprano and tenor, "Quid sum miser" (What shall I plead in my anguish?), with its lilting bassoon bass-line.

The basses of the chorus then introduce the "Rex tremende". There is almost a tug of war between them, and the rest of the chorus and the soloists. The basses persist with their forbidding opening phrase, "Rex tremende majestatis" (King omnipotent and mighty); the chorus and soloists contrast this with the lyricism of "Salve me fons pietatis" (Save thou me, O fount of mercy). The idea of an oppressive deity is gradually replaced with the sense of hope that is associated with the compassion of Christ. This continues in the gentle rocking of the "Recordare", (a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano that reflects on the Passion of Christ) and in the famous tenor solo, the "Ingemisco" (I lament for I am guilty).

The bass solo "Confutatis" (When the cursed all are banished) oscillates between condemnation and compassion. The forceful dotted rhythms of the opening give way to a cantabile style for "Oro supplex et acclinis" (On my knees a I fall before Thee). The bass solo is followed by another reprisal of the opening of the "Dies irae". The movement closes with the sombre "Lacrymosa" (Day of bitter lamentation), with its initial plaintive melody and countermelody passed amongst the soloists and the chorus.

The "Domine Jesu" (Lord of Lords) is a quartet for the four soloists. The chorus makes a joyful return in the "Sanctus" (Holy, holy), a double fugue accompanied by staccato strings and piccolo. Playfulness is replaced by serenity for the setting of the words "Earth and heaven are full of echoes to Thy glory". The movement closes with a rousing "Hosanna" to flourishing brass accompaniment.

The "Agnus Dei" (Lamb of God) is set for soprano, mezzo soprano and chorus and begins with a transfixing unaccompanied duet for the two soloists, set an octave apart. The theme is then passed between the soloists and the chorus, each time oscillating between major and minor and each time with a different accompaniment from the orchestra.

The "Lux aeterna" (Light for ever) is a trio for the mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass accompanied by the rustling of tremolo strings. The movement struggles to reconcile the peace of the opening mezzo-soprano line with the ominous recurrence of "Requiem aeternam" provided by the bass.

The final, dramatic movement of the Requiem begins with an anguished declamation from the soprano, "Libera me" (Lord, deliver me). This is a movement full of emotion: grief, fear, guilt, despair, hope and repentance. Verdi summarises what has gone before as he re-introduces parts of the memorable "Dies irae" theme and the opening "Requiem" passage. But there is also the inclusion of another fugue for the chorus, which harks back to the spirited nature of the "Sanctus". The Requiem closes as it began, in near silence, with the final pleas of the soprano and the fading accompaniment of the chorus.

Thanks to Ruth Patten for supplying these notes

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