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A Guide to Requiem Music
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SUBJECTS
Reference » Music
Religion » Music
Music » Reference
Music » Classical
Music » Religious
REVIEWS
"Dr. Chase has not missed anything in this one-of-a-kind, voluminous, comprehensive guide...This is a cornucopia of information: Everything thing is there...well worth the inclusion on the active shelves of libraries, musicians, liturgists, and general readers."
—William Tortolano, Pastoral Music, Feb - March 2004
DESCRIPTION
Since time immemorial, the response of the living to death has been to commemorate the life of the departed through ceremonies and rituals. For nearly two millennia, the Christian quest for eternal peace has been expressed in a poetic-musical structure known as the requiem.
Traditional requiem texts, among them the anonymous medieval Latin poem Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath"), have inspired an untold number of composers in different ages and serving different religions, Western and Eastern. This book, the first comprehensive survey of requiem music for nearly half a century, provides a great deal of diverse and detailed information that will be of use to the professional musician, the musical scholar, the choral conductor, the theologian and liturgist, and the general reader.
The main body of the guide is a description of some 250 requiems. Each entry includes a concise biography of the composer and a description of the composition. Details of voicing, orchestration, editions, and discography are given. An extensive bibliography includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, prayer books, monographs, and articles. An appendix lists more than 1700 requiems not discussed within the main text.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Chase is Professor of Music at Pace University, White Plains, New York. He is active as pianist, organist, conductor, and choir trainer.
Jahja Ling is Associate Conductor, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
