The Chancel Choir, soloists, and chamber orchestra will present Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Opus 48.
There is an unbreakable spiritual bond between the living and those held in sacred memory. Celebrating All Souls’ Day is one of the ways that we pay homage to those who have gone on before us. This coming All Souls’ Day, we will reclaim the ancient practice of presenting a composed requiem mass during our 11am worship service. The choir has been preparing the Fauré Requiem for many weeks now, and will present it, along with a 15-piece chamber orchestra, in the context of our worship liturgy on Sunday, November 2. All are welcome to submit names of loved ones which will be read aloud during worship via the form HERE. Please submit your names by Wednesday, October 29.
Of all the many requiem settings, Fauré’s may be the most unequivocally beautiful. Sometimes described as a “lullaby” for the dead, Fauré’s version of the requiem omits the dramatic and downright terrifying Dies Irae Sequence (“Day of wrath, day of trembling…) and focuses instead on more the more comforting parts of the requiem mass. Harmonies vacillate between major and minor, capturing the tumultuous waves of feeling accompanying grief. The orchestra, weighed down with an overabundance of cellos, tethers us to earthly life, while the “celestial” harp and soaring solo violin draw us heavenward. The choir and soloists deliver the heartfelt prayers of the living for a peaceful and heavenly rest for the souls of all the departed. Fauré masterfully expresses all aspects of our uniquely human relationship with death. He acknowledges the gravitas and anguish of loss while delivering a lovingly tender elegy for those whose earthly struggle has come to an end.
Contact Minister of Music Susan DeSelms at susan@upbrookline.org for more information.
