Amazing pieces of classical music - 39
Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, Op. 48 : IV. 'Pie Jesu' sung by Martha Angelici with Maurice Duruflé on the organ and the Orchestre de l'Eglise Saint-Eustache de Paris under the baton of André Cluytens recorded in 1951. It's one of the most famous aria's for soprano and orchestra and it was composed as early as in 1887, two years after the death of Fauré's own father and shortly before that of his mother. More crucially, like with Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, Fauré's Requiem was eventually sung and played at the composer's own funeral.
“It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience” (Gabriel Fauré, 1902).
This requiem is rather unique though. The anguish, loss and horrors of Death and Judgement Day are simply left by the wayside, and the composer concentrates on the true meaning of the word "requiem", or rest itself. Fauré's Requiem is about peaceful acceptance and release, and the music is serene, elevating, comforting. In short, it conveys thus a sense of "divine hope" because it focuses on peaceful rest and salvation rather than the fear of death.
Nadia Boulanger wrote about Fauré’s Requiem: ‘It is not only his greatest work, but it is also one of music’s most precious jewels. The sober expression of mourning is never undone by the composer’s sensationalism; no trace of doubt undermines his firm faith. The work radiates confidence and a hopeful expectation of a new future.’ A colleague of hers wrote about the work: … ‘in a word: death as a painful, yet poetic miracle…’
As a dear friend reminded me on here recently (concerning the slowly ebbing away of life out of my beloved cat), that out of the three major religious themes of hope, faith and love, the last is the most important. She was right, of course, although I know that the existance of real love is only built on a firm basis of hope and faith. Our belief in Christ is crucial. The story goes that on the night before he died, Jesus gathered his disciples to share a final meal with them.
The Gospel of John regards the Last Supper as being essential to the salvation of the world. It's a special moment, a sacred time set apart. Again, the Greeks understood this concept already. They called regular time, counted time, "kronos", but sacred time, time set apart, "kairos". The Last Supper is kairos time: Jesus is trying to sum up all that he has taught his disciples in the past three years, he wants to help them understand the significance of what's happening right then and will happen in the following three days, and he's instructing them how to carry out God’s mission after he's gone.
As my cat approaches the last days of her life – or weeks, months, or even years – I sense that I enter with her into kairos. I recall the impact my beloved pet had on my life. I grieve that she'll no longer walk it with me, but most of all, I rejoice in what marvels awaits her and all of us in heaven. Thus victory over death has already been won. Next to the importance of consoling the living Fauré also understood our need to pray continually for God’s mercy
[media=https://youtu.be/aVYLQo6a-VQ]
“It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience” (Gabriel Fauré, 1902).
This requiem is rather unique though. The anguish, loss and horrors of Death and Judgement Day are simply left by the wayside, and the composer concentrates on the true meaning of the word "requiem", or rest itself. Fauré's Requiem is about peaceful acceptance and release, and the music is serene, elevating, comforting. In short, it conveys thus a sense of "divine hope" because it focuses on peaceful rest and salvation rather than the fear of death.
Nadia Boulanger wrote about Fauré’s Requiem: ‘It is not only his greatest work, but it is also one of music’s most precious jewels. The sober expression of mourning is never undone by the composer’s sensationalism; no trace of doubt undermines his firm faith. The work radiates confidence and a hopeful expectation of a new future.’ A colleague of hers wrote about the work: … ‘in a word: death as a painful, yet poetic miracle…’
As a dear friend reminded me on here recently (concerning the slowly ebbing away of life out of my beloved cat), that out of the three major religious themes of hope, faith and love, the last is the most important. She was right, of course, although I know that the existance of real love is only built on a firm basis of hope and faith. Our belief in Christ is crucial. The story goes that on the night before he died, Jesus gathered his disciples to share a final meal with them.
The Gospel of John regards the Last Supper as being essential to the salvation of the world. It's a special moment, a sacred time set apart. Again, the Greeks understood this concept already. They called regular time, counted time, "kronos", but sacred time, time set apart, "kairos". The Last Supper is kairos time: Jesus is trying to sum up all that he has taught his disciples in the past three years, he wants to help them understand the significance of what's happening right then and will happen in the following three days, and he's instructing them how to carry out God’s mission after he's gone.
As my cat approaches the last days of her life – or weeks, months, or even years – I sense that I enter with her into kairos. I recall the impact my beloved pet had on my life. I grieve that she'll no longer walk it with me, but most of all, I rejoice in what marvels awaits her and all of us in heaven. Thus victory over death has already been won. Next to the importance of consoling the living Fauré also understood our need to pray continually for God’s mercy
[media=https://youtu.be/aVYLQo6a-VQ]
