Musical Moments #21
“Music excavates Heaven.”
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)
“Libera Me” from Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
The prequel to our “Musical Moments #19” Verdi (Manzoni) Requiem discussion takes us back to the composer’s beginning “Libera me” in Paris during the summer of 1873 upon learning of Rossini’s death. Verdi asked several prominent Italian composers each to write a movement of a requiem that would be put together to honor the renowned musician; his own contribution would be the “Libera Me.” The project was eventually scraped, the combined work never performed, and the music was returned to the respective composers.
While Verdi was prolific, having written twenty-six operas, he only penned eight non-operatic choral works (including the today’s feature), a small number of songs, and a single string quartet.
The Requiem premiered during the reign of Pope Pius X had the distinction of being condemned by him. He wrote, “The theatrical style that was in the greatest vogue, especially in Italy during the last century . . . is, by its very nature opposed to Gregorian chant and classic polyphony, the most important law of all good sacred music.”
Verdi seemed to be equally unimpressed with the Pope and organized religion. His wife, Giuseppina discussed his views: “For some virtuous people a belief in God is necessary. Others, equally perfect, while observing strictly every precept of the highest moral code, are happier believing nothing.”
Perhaps Verdi’s disdain for the church can be traced to an experience he often re-told. As the story goes, when he was an altar boy he got distracted by the sound of the organ during the Mass and failed to hand the wine to the priest quickly enough. To get Verdi’s attention, the priest kicked the young boy, causing him to fall down the altar steps and be knocked unconscious. When Verdi regained himself, he retorted by saying, “May God strike you with lightening.” Eerily, eight years later the priest was actually struck by lightning and killed.
The “Libera Me” you are hearing is quite significantly changed from the version he first wrote to eulogize Rossini. As the last movement of the full work, Verdi’s poignant music powerfully underscores the translation’s terrifying message with only the final words of hope for a heavenly father’s redemption and peace.
Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal, on that dreaded day; when the heavens
and the earth shall quake, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
I am seized by trembling, and I fear until the judgement should come,
and I also dead the coming wrath.
O that day, day of wrath, day of calamity and misery, momentous day,
and exceedingly bitter,
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Eternal rest grant to them,
O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
In preparing for your listening experience, you may wish to put on your virtual seat belts. The “Libera Me” section of this work reveals itself like an amusement park ride with the fair amount of surprises from the “Dies irae” reprisal to a comforting “Requiem aeternam.” The journey on which Verdi takes the listener is filled with emotional extremes and abundant compositional nuances.
Choral singers, orchestral players, and vocal soloists alike require much skill to impart their due upon this work. Soprano soloist Mary Wilson offers an exemplary illustration as she weaves and soars with the Bach Choir and Orchestra in delivering this difficult role in a commandingly beautiful manner.
Enjoy this live-unedited performance from October 2017!
-John V. Sinclair
“Do you know that our soul is composed of harmony.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)