"Honor the old, but also bring a warm heart to the new. Don't be prejudiced against names you don't know," Robert Schumann once wrote in his "Musikalische Haus- und Lebensregeln". There is always something appealing about juxtaposing old and new in a concert. The difference in time of 206 years alone initially gives rise to the suspicion that the form, style and sound world could hardly be more different. Mozart's Requiem, probably the most famous torso in music history, and a score by one of the great composers of choral music of our time - are they unrelated? Legends still surround the dark origins of the Requiem. Who was the "gray messenger" who approached Mozart in the summer of 1791 and ordered a requiem mass for an unknown patron? Things get spooky in the fall. During a carriage ride, the ailing Mozart expressed the suspicion that he had been poisoned. Desperate, he writes against his approaching death. On December 5, 1791, at the age of just 35, the Grim Reaper takes the pen from his hand. His last clear thought was for the unfinished Requiem. Even though meticulous research and criminal profilers have already been able to shed some light on the darkness, questions remain that make the work all the more fascinating and emotionally stirring. The work is unusually orchestrated, combines various period stylistic features in a surprising manner and develops a bold harmony that already points far into the future.
The American composer Morten Lauridsen also uses secondary rhythms in his requiem-like choral work Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light). Lauridsen has become one of the most frequently performed choral composers in the USA in recent years. This is not least due to his tonal language, which envelops everything in a euphonic melodiousness. He completed the score in 1997, shortly after the death of his mother. Lux Aeterna is a magnificent reflection on grief and focuses on the bereaved. Overall, then, both works revolve around the question of what comes after death and offer different perspectives on consolation and hope. While Mozart's Requiem is more traditional and sombre, Lux Aeterna aims to send rays of hope in the midst of suffering and loss. Per astra ad astra - Beethoven would certainly have liked this dramaturgy.
Sources: www.br-klassik.de;www.klassikakzente.de
Alyona Rostovskaia, soprano
Lucie Ceralová, alto
Edward Leach, tenor
Christopher Jähnig, bass
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
Konzertchor Lippstadt
Konzertchor des Städt. Musikverein Hamm
Conductor: Burkhard A. Schmitt