Every year there is a performance with orchestra of a French setting of the Requiem Mass at St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, at the High Mass on All Souls’ Day. This isn’t of course very topical, but I’ve been reminded of it by a couple of things recently.<\/p>\n
I sang at this Mass several times in the 1990’s, in performances conducted by Nicholas Kaye. In the last few years I’ve fallen off the postal mailing list (they’ve never as far as I know used an email list to recruit singers), or the invitation has come too late for me to accept it; I hoped to take part a couple of years ago, but the date of the service was changed a few weeks beforehand which made it impossible. Once I was invited to sing at another service there. I felt flattered that I’d been asked to come all the way over from Cambridge, until I was told the reason: because I wasn’t a London-based singer I didn’t have to be paid!<\/p>\n
A couple of times I sang the Duruflé Requiem, as it was a rare opportunity to perform the work with full orchestra. Otherwise I’d try to turn out for some of the more obscure settings I’d probably never sing otherwise. One year it was the Bruneau Requiem, in what was believed to be its fourth ever performance (two of the previous three being in Paris in the 1890’s, the third in Paddington a few years previously). The orchestra were playing from the original parts, a century old! I can’t say that this work was really overdue for revival, though I was happy to sing it once, and I did subsequently hear another choir perform it on Radio 3 so it didn’t sink back into total obscurity. I recall various bits which were clearly ripped off from Verdi’s setting, especially the Agnus Dei<\/i> (right down to the flute obbligato!).<\/p>\n
The last Requiem setting I sang there was the one by Saint-Saëns, not a favourite composer of mine. However, this piece, written after the death of one of the composer’s children, had more depth to it than I find in much of his music and I’d sing it again (provided that I didn’t have to invest too much time!). The orchestration is notable for requiring four harps.<\/p>\n
There are other settings they do, such as those by Ropartz, Desenclos and Inghelbrecht. This year the Requiem is by Henri Tomasi, of whom I haven’t previously heard; I don’t know yet whether I’ll try to sing in it.<\/p>\n
[I eventually gave up this fixture when the date was changed one year at short notice to the nearest Sunday; fortunately I hadn’t bought a rail ticket. The postal invitations also dried up.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every year there is a performance with orchestra of a French setting of the Requiem Mass at St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, at the High Mass on All Souls’ Day. This isn’t of course very topical, but I’ve been reminded of … Continue reading