Helmuth Rilling, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - A Requiem Of Reconciliation (In Memory Of The Victims Of The Second World War)

Saturday 1st February 1997
Helmuth Rilling, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - A Requiem Of Reconciliation (In Memory Of The Victims Of The Second World War)

STYLE: Choral
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 17789-
LABEL: Hanssler 98931
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by John Irvine

What we have here is a great oddity: a modern setting of the ancient "Requiem" text by no less than 14 contemporary composers representing the combatant nations of the Second World War: Judith Weir for Britain, Penderecki for Poland, Alfred Schnittke for Russia, and so on. Each composer was given a section of the "Requiem" text to compose and then the complete two-hour work was performed at the Europaisches Musikfest, Stuttgart in August 1995. This is the first recording. While there are sections which stand head and shoulders above the rest of the work, the complete work is characterised almost by a great blandness. It is somewhat depressing to realise that 14 different composers of different nationalities and ages are almost indistinguishable. Perhaps this was the intention, so that the 14 different sections would merge into a single work so that the representatives of the different nations would in fact speak with one voice. Be that as it may, one would have expected greater variety. Now for those sections I mentioned earlier. Friedrich Cerha's "Introitus" boils and seethes its way out of the depths as the prayers of the supplicants rise to Heaven. Arne Nordheim's "Confutatis" is nothing short of the miraculous, with a soaring soul-lifting ending to die for. Marc-Andre Dalbavie's "Offertorium", Weir's "Sanctus" and Penderecki's "Agnus Dei" all use Gregorian chant as their basis, thus rooting their sections deep within the historic faith and the traditional musical approach to the texts; in fact in Dalbavie's section almost all of the choral writing is simply Gregorian chant and by a clever touch in which individual singers begin to sustain isolated notes, the sound picture of a spacious cathedral is delicately built up. Weir combines her acknowledgement of the historical precedents for the "Sanctus" with rich choral and orchestral writing which put me in mind of Britten at his best. A joyous hymn of praise to God, which is following imediately by Penderecki's contribution, a slow, sombre and weight-laden "Agnus Dei": a greater contrast you could not find and the juxtaposition of the works of these two composers is very much a great moment in the performance of this "Requiem". Wolfgang Rihm's wordless "Communio 1", in which the singers and musicians both create strange percussive sounds echoing the aftermath of the war and its effect on the generations who grew up in the post war years, is rightfully a magnificent attention drawing piece; but the final word is reserved for Gyorgy Kurtak's "Epilog: We Have A Building Of God", a strangely moving piece for (virtually) unaccompanied choir ending with the words "Ite messe est" (go in peace). A fitting end to the overall work and a hope which we all share.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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