Download The Verdi Requiem by John Costello

The sacred music of the 19th century culminated in this magnificent, moving setting of the Roman Catholic Mass of the
Dead. Adored by the vast majority of people at the time, the piece was criticized by a few skeptical critics who contested
that Verdi’s Requiem was too operatic, “...an opera in clerical garb,” as one of them said. But Verdi was a man of great
spirituality, if not devotion, and his ability to capture the essence of the text in his music, learned from years of setting
opera, raises the tone of this work from the mere theatrical to the sublimely awe-inspiring. It is a work which truly allows
us glimpse, in our own frail human way, the majesty, the power and the benevolence of God.
Program Notes:
The Verdi Requiem
by John Costello
The Verdi Requiem was first performed on May 22, 1874 in San Marco, Milan
to honor the memory of Alessandro Manzoni, author of I Promessi
Sposi, who had died the year before. Verdi revered his fellow patriot whose
novel had been important in the Risorgimento as Italy had become politically
unified earlier in the century and had also garnered international acclaim.
The Requiem was immediately recognized as a masterpiece of sacred music,
both traditional and innovative. What astonished his first audiences was that
this master of Italian opera had written a work different from, yet related to
his operas. Immediately after the premiere, the Requiem had three
performances in La Scala and within the month in Paris. In 1875
theRequiem was performed to cheering audiences in London, Paris, Vienna,
and Venice. Notable critics and musicians, including Brahms, recognized its
complex artistry as well as its dramatic quality characteristic of Verdi. He
knew he was writing something different not only in form, but in purpose.
The composer himself had insisted that the premiere be given in a church in
Milan, not initially in an opera house. In March, 1874, when he had
completed the Requiem he had begun the previous September, he wrote, "I
have done nothing but write note after note to the greater glory of God…"
The Requiem, Verdi’s first and only major liturgical work, explores the
mystery of God, death, judgment, and salvation in numerous ways. It relies
upon the human experience of belief which, by its nature, includes
uncertainty, fear, and hope. He selected for his text the Catholic prayers to
be said in a Mass for the Dead. The drama inherent in the language is the
soul praying to a God who is both just and merciful and will hold every
human being accountable for his actions that will determine eternal life,
either in damnation or salvation. The moment of judgment is a tremendous
theatrical event, wrought with fear and hope, emphasized by the Dies
Iraetheme, insistent in its loud, rapid drum beats, followed by the
orchestra’s cascading melody, then by the Chorus’ rising melody and wide
leaps upward. This theme contrasts dramatically with the quiet, unhurried,
chant-like opening plea for rest, and it is followed by each of the four
soloists representing a sinner confessing his imperfection and powerlessness
in death to an awe inspiring God, majestic and merciful. The melodies of the
soloists capture the range of human emotions and spiritual states, each
totally compelling in its awareness of what judgment entails. The Offertoryis
comprised of a quartet for the soloists reminding God of his promise of
salvation from Abraham and Jesus. This is followed by the Sanctus, an
exuberant praise of God in the form of a double fugue for the chorus, and
this intricate form ends in hushedHosannas. A duet between soprano and
mezzo-soprano begins theAgnus Dei, whose gorgeous melody again asking
for rest in peace is taken up by the unison chorus. The contrast between the
apparent simplicity of the Agnus Dei and the complexity of the preceding
Sanctus bears testimony to the composer’s experience in a variety of
musical forms that nonetheless reveals his bel canto heritage. The Libera
Me culminates with a repetition of the spiritual themes that have been heard
throughout, but the quiet personal plea invites the believer to participate
with the soprano soloist and chorus in this prayer of unparalleled
psychological intensity for freedom in eternal life.
When Verdi composed the Requiem, he probably thought this would be his
last major work, never anticipating in 1873 he would go on to
write Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). He had been convinced that Don
Carlos (1867) and Aïda (1871) would be the last operas he would compose.
The choral and orchestral writing in these operas, significantly more complex
than his earlier operas, were his preparation for his Requiem. As developed
and rich as this is work is in its harmonies and counterpoint, it retains the
characteristic trademarks of Verdi’s writing of dramatically compelling,
beautiful melodies for a variety of voices.