My intention was to do only Berlioz's Te Deum and leave out the Requiem, because I already have a lot of funeral music in this series. But as I listened to the Te Deum, with its tremendous power, my appetite for the Requiem grew, and I decided to include it after all, even though that means three works by Berlioz! The Grande Messe des Morts of 1837 has - even more than the Te Deum - a tremendous orchestration of woodwinds and brass, including four antiphonal brass ensembles offstage. This is truly religious theater, with the emphasis on the last word! And I found the great performance at Cologne Cathedral linked below...
In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the French Minister of the Interior, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to commemorate the soldiers who had died in the July 1830 Revolution. Berlioz accepted the request, as he had already planned to compose a large choral work. However, the purpose of the Requiem was changed; the premiere at Les Invalides, conducted by François Habeneck on December 5, 1837, was to commemorate the death of General Damrémont and the soldiers killed during the siege of Constantine (an event that is now completely forgotten).
The orchestral apparatus is indeed enormous: the main orchestra includes 4 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 English horns, 4 clarinets, 8 bassoons, 12 horns, 16 timpani, 2 bass drums, 10 pairs of cymbals, 4 tam-tams, and 108 strings (25 each of first and second violins, 20 each of violas and cellos, and 18 double basses). In addition, there are four other brass orchestras, consisting of cornets, trumpets, trombones, and tubas, which are to be placed as a distance orchestra at the four points of the compass to represent the Last Judgment. According to the score, the chorus was to include at least 210 voices (80 sopranos and altos, 60 tenors, 70 basses). In the Sanctus, Berlioz used only one tenor as a solo voice, but the part could also be sung by 10 tenors from the chorus. In the score, Berlioz also noted that these numbers were relative and that the instrumentation could be doubled or tripled if necessary! Note that the work is written almost entirely for chorus and orchestra, and that there is only one soloist, a tenor, who appears in only one movement.
First Movement
The Requiem begins solemnly, with violins, horns, oboes, and English horns gradually entering before the choirs. The music then becomes more agitated and desperate. The first movement contains the first two sections of the Requiem Mass (Introit and Kyrie).
Second Movement
The second movement begins with the Dies iræ, which describes the Last Judgment. The four brass ensembles placed in the corners of the stage appear one after the other in this movement; they are joined by 16 timpani, 2 bass drums and 4 gongs. The rising sound (a truly deafening display!) is followed by the entrance of the choirs. The winds and strings conclude the movement.
Third Movement
The third movement, Quid sum miser, is short and describes what happens after the Last Judgment. The orchestra is reduced to two English horns, eight bassoons, and the cellos and contrabasses.
Fourth movement
The Rex tremendæ contains contrasting oppositions. The choir sings both pleadingly, as if asking for help, and majestically.
Fifth movement
Quærens me is a soft, calm movement, entirely a cappella.
Sixth movement
The Lacrimosa is in 9/8 time and is considered the centerpiece of the Requiem. It is the only movement written in recognizable sonata form and is the last movement to express mourning. The dramatic effect of this movement is heightened by the addition of numerous brass and percussion instruments. This movement concludes the Sequence section of the Mass.
Seventh Movement
This movement begins with the Offertory. Domine Jesu Christe is based on a three-note motive of A, B♭, and A. This motive, sung by the choir, is interwoven with the melody of the orchestra. It lasts about ten minutes, almost to the end of the movement, which ends quietly. Robert Schumann was very impressed with the innovations in this movement.
Eighth movement
The conclusion of the Offertory, the Hostias, is short and scored for male voices, eight trombones, three flutes and strings.
Ninth movement
The Sanctus is sung by a tenor. The flutes play long held notes. The female voices also sing, perhaps in response to the tenor. The low strings and cymbals join in. A fugue sung by the entire chorus, accompanied by the orchestra, concludes the movement. In the original version, Berlioz uses 10 tenors for the solo part.
Tenth movement
The final movement contains the Agnus Dei and the Communion of the Mass, played by strings and winds. The movement reuses the melodies and effects of the previous movements.
The journalist Christophe Deshoulières, a contributor to Diapason, wrote: "Berlioz's Requiem is an intimate meditation on nothingness put into perspective by gigantic means". Alfred de Vigny, in his Journal d'un poète of December 5, 1837, declared: "The music is beautiful and bizarre, wild, convulsive and painful."
Berlioz himself loved his Requiem. He later wrote: "If I were threatened with the destruction of all but one of my works, I should beg for mercy for the Messe des morts. Yet, like Verdi's Requiem, the Grande Messe des Morts was created by a man who apparently had no real religious convictions.
Listen to: WDR Radio Choir, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno and tenor Andrew Staples under the baton of conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Recorded live on 18 May 2017 in Cologne Cathedral.
Choral Masterworks