THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2017-2018 39
accomplished for Italy with this book what Luther’s
translation of the Bible had done three centuries before for
Germany — brought a standardized language to a country
factionalized by innumerable dialects.
Verdi venerated Manzoni, and when the writer died at the
age of 87 on May 22, 1873, the composer was stricken with
grief. A few days after receiving the news Verdi wrote, “With
him ends the most pure, the most sacred, the highest of our
glories.” As he had been five years earlier with the passing
of Rossini, Verdi was again inspired to commemorate the
death of a great Italian with a memorial Mass. He sent his
proposal to compose a Requiem in honor of Manzoni to the
mayor of Milan, and it was eagerly accepted. When the mayor
expressed his appreciation, Verdi replied, “You owe me no
thanks. It is an impulse, or I might better say, a need of my
heart which impels me to honor, as far as I can, this Great
Man whom I so respected as a writer.”
Verdi scheduled the Requiem’s premiere for the first
anniversary of Manzoni’s death, and began the score
immediately. Remembering his earlier experience with the
Rossini Requiem, however, he decided this time to control
the entire project himself — composition, preparations and
performance. He revived the Libera me for inclusion in the
Manzoni Requiem, but newly composed the rest. As the
work proceeded, he arranged for performers, printing and
publicity, and even made acoustical tests to determine the
most suitable of Milan’s churches for the premiere. The work
was finished on April 10, 1874, and the first performance six
weeks later in San Marco Cathedral was a complete success.
What To Listen For
Verdi’s Requiem is in seven large movements, based on
the text. Throughout, the ancient words are illuminated
and enriched by the composer’s broad strokes and subtle
touches, which are best perceived by following the text as the
piece unfolds around them. The Requiem’s initial gesture, in
the cellos, comes as if from a great distance and establishes
the grave solemnity of the movement. The chorus intones a
sweet, pathetic invocation for departed souls which leads
directly into the Kyrie eleison (“Lord have mercy”), a broad,
flowing prayer for divine compassion.
The Dies irae paints the awe-inspiring “Day of Wrath” when
the world will stand in judgment. Verdi rose to the challenge
of these words with music “full of things terrifying and at
the same time moving and pathetic,” wrote the critic Filippo
Filippi following the premiere. This movement, which
occupies fully one-third of the Requiem’s length, is divided
into nearly a dozen successive scenes, which encompass a
broad range of musical moods and technical devices.
The Offertorio (Domine Jesu Christe — “Lord Jesus Christ”)
that follows comes like a halcyon spring breeze after the
winter’s blast. Its gently swaying rhythm and huge melodic
arches bear to celestial reaches the supplicant’s entreaty
for the deliverance of the departed from the pains of hell.
Its contrasting center section (Quam olim — Hostias — Quam
olim repeated) is followed by a brief return of the gentle
opening music.
The Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”) begins with a joyous shout.
The music then launches into a bracing fugue on two subjects
for divided chorus, which is followed by an antiphonal
setting (i.e., choruses in alternation) of the Hosanna.
Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”) is the shortest movement of the
Requiem and the simplest. Plain in texture and introspective
in expression, it is dominated by the voices with only the
most sparse orchestral accompaniment. The Lux aeterna
(“Light eternal”) is memorable for some of the most ethereal,
translucent orchestral scoring in all of Verdi’s works.
The concluding Libera me (“Deliver me”) is the remnant of
the earlier Requiem for Rossini. In the Manzoni Requiem,
the movement consists of several sections: an introductory
verse for soprano soloist that rises from a freely chanted
beginning; a recall of the tempestuous Dies irae movement;
a reminiscence of the opening Requiem aeternam in a
breathtakingly beautiful setting for unaccompanied chorus
and soprano; and a fugue which concludes with the quiet,
resigned chanting that opened the movement. It is thought
that the fugue and the opening chant were the only music
originally written for the earlier Mass, and that the Dies
irae and Requiem aeternam reminiscences were inserted
when the work was newly composed for the Manzoni
commemoration.
© 2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Please visit www.FloridaOrchestra.org
for our full program notes.
Program Notes
/www.FloridaOrchestra.org