Reflections on Chilcott’s Requiem y b Members of the ChancelReflections Choir on Chilcott’s Requiem by Members of the Chancel Choir Reflections on Chilcott’s Requiem by Members of the Chancel Choir Reflections on Chilcott’s Requiem by Members of the Chancel Choir Requiem Bob Chilcott Robert “Bob” Chilcott, born in 1955, is a British choral composer, conductor, and singer. He sang in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, both as a boy and as a university student. In 1985 he joined the King’s Singers, singing tenor for 12 years. Chilcott began composing in 1997, and has had remarkable success since that time. TheRequiem was premiered on March 13, 2010, at the Sheldonian in Oxford, England, by the Oxford Bach Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was first performed in the United States at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas. Requiem is dedicated to Chilcott’s niece, who died at age 23, while he was composing the piece. It is beautifully reflective, and at the same time is given focus and direction by the composer’s keen sense of melody and innate feeling for rhythm, be it in the lyrical, rolling tenor solo in the Angus Dei, or the crystal simplicity of the Pie Jesu; the gently pulsing first few bars of the Introit, or the driving irregular beats of the Sanctus. The work’s components develop at different paces—it is hard to put a finger on one particular moment of arrival. The Sanctus, with its dance-like patterns, provides the dynamic peak of Requiem; the Pie Jesu perhaps offers the emotional center of the work; and Thou Knowest, Lord presents a central point for the text. This combination of differently paced pulses ultimately carries the listener gently through Requiem, continuously moving forward while at the same time maintaining a comforting sense of reflection and stillness. Chilcott has a long-standing association with the New Orleans Children’s Chorus and the Crescent City Festival in New Orleans, for which he has created numerous pieces. He originally wrote his This Day, a setting of five poems, for a 2006 choral festival in New Orleans which was cancelled after Hurricane Katrina. The work was ultimately premiered on June 25, 2007, at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, by 210 singers from around the United States. Chilcott served as the conductor of the chorus at the Royal College of Music London, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers, and the Reflections conductor of the Birmingham University Singers. Requiem is in seven movements, following the sequence of the Requiem Mass, (1) Introit andon Kyrie , (2) Offertorio, (3) Pie Jesu, (4) Sanctus, (5) Angus Dei, (6) Thou Knowest, Lord, and (7) Lux Aeterna. All but Movement 6 are from the Missa proChilcott’s defunctus, and are sung in RequiemLatin. Translations are the composer’s. Movement 6 is from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and is partially based on Psalm 44 and hints at Psalm 139 and the Book of Job. The Requiem is scored for a small ensemble or full orchestra, as you will hear this morning. by The Chancel Choir has been preparing this work since late summer. I am immensely grateful to the choir for theirMembers dedication and commitment of tothe offer this Chancelwork in worship today. ChoirThe theological reflections you will find in this booklet were written by seven members of the Chancel Choir. We pray these reflections will add depth and insights to your worship experience on this All Saints’ Sunday. Soli Deo Gloria, David A. VanderMeer Minister of Music and Fine Arts Introit and Kyrie Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, et lux perpetua luceat eis. and light perpetual shine on them. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, Thou art praised in Sion, O God, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. and homage shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam. Hear my prayer. Ad te omnis caro veniet. All flesh shall come before thee. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. A Collect for All Saints’ Day God of all grace, Hear our prayers, as we remember All called to eternal glory. And bless, everlastingly, The souls at rest in your care. For as in Adam, all die, Even so in Christ shall we be made alive. We are flowers, and we fade. We are grass, grown dry. All flesh comes before you; We are gathered in, The last of the late harvest, Bared in our love, our sin. For this gleaning, let there be no grief, No mourning for the fallen leaf, Or for the reaping of our bodies Reflections Soon asleep in silent rooms. on Blessed are the dead Who die in the Lord, For they will live, singing, Chilcott’s Requiem In the new Jerusalem, Where one endless arch of light by Raised by a carpenter’s son, Breaks night.Members of the Chancel Choir This is our Bethlehem, reborn in Him, A paradise of deepest peace. We go to rest in that new garden, In eternal Eden, Where light is sown for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Linda Muehlig Offertorio Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, free the souls omnium fidelium defunctorum of all the faithful departed de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu from the pains of hell and from the deep pit. Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat tartarus, Free them from the jaws of the lion, lest hell ne cadant in obscurum. engulf them, lest they fall into darkness. H ostias et preces tibi, Domine, In praise we offer to thee, Lord, laudis offerimus. sacrifices and prayers. Tu suscipe pro animabus illis, Receive them for the souls quarum hodie memoriam facimus of those we remember this day. Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam, quam Make them, Lord, pass from death to life, as olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus. Thou didst promise Abraham and his seed. With a sense of urgency. With quickened breath. With earnest hope and deep humility. With audac- ity and trepidation. Thus, we address you, O Lord. We offer a singular plea on behalf of all who have gone before us, yet we cannot keep the fear from our voices. Deliver the souls of the faithful departed, but deliver our souls as well! Darkness threatens to consume us at every turn, and our eyes strain to see the path that lies ahead. Though Christ has already overcome death once and for all, death re- mains a reality from which we are not yet free. How long, O Lord, must we languish in sorrow? How long must the dissonance of our lives clash against the consonance of your kingdom? How long must we wait in anticipation of the day when death will be no more? And yet, despite our sorrow, we remember the self-emptying love that sank down into the depths of suffering for us. We remember the new covenant, sealed in the blood of the Lamb that was shed for all and for the forgiveness of sins. We remember our teacher who rose from the dead in the darkness of morning to meet us in our grief. We remember the wondrous love who called us by name and claimed us as his own. And so, we sing on through our tears and through our pain, lifting our prayers for the souls of those we remember this day. We sing on, trustingReflections in the promises of our God. We sing on, our prayers of hope that God will shepherd us from death into life echoing again and again and again... on ...and yet doubt and fear return. How could they not? Death is the great unknown of our lives. What lies beyond the veil? We long for answers, forChilcott’s certainty, but the truth remains Requiem a mystery to us. Such is the great and frustrating mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again in glory. Yet we do not journey through the life of faith alone. When death or violenceb ory affliction take hold of us, we meet each other in our sorrow, in our pain, and in our loneliness. In so doing we meetMembers you, O God, face to face. of Even thethough we Chancel may walk through darkest Choir valleys, we have no reason to fear, for you are Emmanuel—God with us—and we will dwell in your house forever and ever. Amen, amen. Andrew Frazier Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them rest. Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis sempiternam requiem. Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. The text for the Pie Jesu is taken from the Dies Irae portion of the traditional requiem mass, but has been set as a separate movement in a Requiem by many classical composers and even a few popular composers, including a much performed version by Andrew Lloyd Weber. The Lloyd Weber version has been recorded by Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church, Marie Osmond, Jackie Evancho, and the Celtic Women, just to name of few! The text, Pie Jesu domine, dona eis sempiternam requiem, is most often translated as “Pious Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest.” Gabriel Fauré, the composer of what is regarded by many as the greatest choral Requiem, chose to translate the Latin as “Good Lord Jesus,” but one might argue that in the Requiem the choir is offering today, the composer, Bob Chilcott, has captured the most comforting meaning in his translation, “gentle Lord Jesus,” and perhaps in his music as well.