Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): REQUIEM, OP. 5 Stuart Burrows, tenor Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeurs de Radio France Orchestre National de France Leonard Bernstein, conductor Recording location: Les Invalides, Paris, 28-30 September 1975 -------------------------------------------------------------- xasavi@hotmail.com During the 1830s, there were political revolutions all over Europe, and France was no exception to that. To commemorate the fallen heros in the July Revolution of 1830, the Minister of the Interior, a M. le Comte Adrien de Gasparin, on March 8, 1837, requested Berlioz to compose a requiem for the service. Berlioz was happy to receive the commission, since he had long wished to produce a large-scale, sacred work describing the Judgement Day. Several bureaucratic complications, however, delayed the performance of this work. One of such complication had to deal with the Director of the Conservatoire at that time: Luigi Cherubini. As the Music Director, Cherubini thought that a government-sponsored ceremony should naturally use a work of his own, and not that of a young, eccentric composer like Berlioz. After Berlioz dealt with Cherubini's hindrance and after having the work composed, the French government decided to cancel the ceremony. Having spent all of his money on script copying and hiring players for rehearsals, Berlioz was in extreme financial trouble. When General Charles Denys de Damremont fell with other French soldiers on October 13, 1837, during the capture of the town of Constantine, the Ministry of War at that time decided to hold a memorial service for the fallen soldiers. After being approached by the Minister of War, General Simon Bernard, this work was finally performed on December 5, 1837. Francois-Antoine Habeneck was the conductor, as he was responsible for performing works for state functions. An interesting story was attached to this first performance of the Requiem. According to Berlioz, during a crucial moment in the work, the Tuba mirum, Habeneck decided to take his habitual pinch of snuff when he should have been guiding the orchestra through a complicated passage that involved the sequential introduction of 4 brass bands in the work. Berlioz described this event in his Memoirs: There are, perhaps, one thousand bars in my Requiem. Precisely in that of which I have just been speaking, when the movement broadens out, and the bras burst in which their terribloe fanfare; in fact, just in the one bar where the conductor's direction is absoluttely indispensable, Habeneck puts down his baton, quietly takes out his snuff-box, and procees to take a pinch of snuff. I had never taken my eyes off him: instantly... springing forward before him, I stretched out myt arm and marked the four great beats of the new movement. The orchestras followed me... I conducted the piece to the end, and the effect which I had dreamed of was produced. The first performance was declared a success. It was reported that some even broke down and cried during the performance. Berlioz was finally paid by the state government, but without further bureaucratic complications. Ultimately, Berlioz dedicated the work to M. de Gasparin for his help and understanding. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TEXT: ---- I. Requiem et Kyrie Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem Exaudi orationem mean, ad te omnis caro veniet. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. II. Dies irae Dies irae, dies illa Solvet saeclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor est futurus Quando judex est venturus Cuncta stricte discussurus Tuba mirum spargens sonum Per sepulcra regionum Coget omnes ante thronum. Mors supebit et natura Cum resurget creatura Judicanti responsura. Liber scriptus proferetur In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus judicetur. Jundex ergo cum sedebit Quidquid latet apparebit, Nil inultum remanebit. III. Quid sum miser Quid sum miser tune dicturus, Quem patronum rogaturus, Cum vix justus sit securus? Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuae viae, Ne me perdas illa die. Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis, Gere curam mei finish. IV. Rex tremendae Rex tremendae majestatis, Quid salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me, fons pietatis. Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuae viae, Ne me perdas illa die. Confutatis maledictis (Jesu) Flammis acribus addictis, Voca me... Et de profundo lacu. Libera me de ore leonis, Ne cadam in obscurum, Ne absorbeat me Tartarus. V. Quaerens me Quaerens me sedisti lassus, Redemisti crucem passus, Tantus labor non sit cassus. Juste judex ultionis Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis. Ingemisco tanquam reus, Supplicanti parce, Deus. Preces meae non sunjt dignae, Sed tu bonus fac benigne, Ne perenni cremer igne. Quid Mariam absolvisti Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti. Inter oves locum praesta Et abe haedis me sequestra, Statuiens in parte dextra. VI. Lacrymosa Lacrymosa dies illa Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus. Pie Jesu, Domine Dona eis requiem aeternam. VII. Offertorium Domine, Jesu Christe, Rex gloria, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu. Et signifer sanctus Michael repraesentat eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius, Domine, Jesu Christe, Amen. VIII. Hostias Hostias et preces tibi laudis offerimus. Suscipe pro animabus illis quarum hodie memoriam facimus. IX. Sanctus Santus, sanctus, sanctus, Deus Sabaeth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. X. Agnus Dei Agus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam. Te decet huymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibit reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem aeternam dona defunctis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis, cum sanctis tuis in aeternam, Domine, quia pius es. Amen. -------------------------------------- Berlioz's Requiem is perhaps one of the least religious mass for the dead ever written. Berlioz himself was not a deeply religious man, though his mother was an orthodox Roman Catholic. The Requiem is a sacred work, but it does not express any deep personal faith from Berlioz himself. The concept of Judgement Day is used in the work as a dramatic setting. The work is set in Latin text for the Mass for the Dead. Berlioz was very liberal with the original text when he composed Requiem. For example, he freely shuffled text in several movements to suit the dramatic need of his music. The work was written for a massive orchestra and chorus. In its original performance, there were 400 singers and players total assembled, including 20 woodwinds, 12 horns, more than 100 strings, and 4 brass emsembles positioned at four corners of the concert stage. Among all his works, Requiem apparently held a special place in Berlioz's heart. During the last few years of his life, Berlioz wrote to a friend: "If I were threatened with the destruction of the whole of my works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts."
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