Dies Irae: A Guide to Requiem Music

by Robert Chase, Jahja Ling (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780585471624
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/08/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	736
File size:	3 MB

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.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 Abbreviations
Chapter 4 Introduction
Chapter 5 1 The Gregorian Requiem Mass
Chapter 6 2 The Polyphonic Corsican Requiem
Chapter 7 3 The Renaissance and the Franco-Flemish School
Chapter 8 4 The High Renaissance
Chapter 9 5 The Baroque Requiem
Chapter 10 6 The Symphonic Requiem
Chapter 11 7 Romanticism
Chapter 12 8 The Twentieth Century
Chapter 13 9 Dies Irae
Chapter 14 10 Ein Deutsches Requiem: The German Requiem
Chapter 15 11 The Anglican Requiem
Chapter 16 12 The Byzantine-Greek Requiem
Chapter 17 13 The Russian Orthodox Panikhida
Chapter 18 14 The Serbian Orthodox Requiem: Opelo
Chapter 19 15 The Armenian Orthodox Requiem
Chapter 20 Appendix A: Dies Irae Melodies
Chapter 21 Appendix B: More Liturgical Requiems
Chapter 22 Bibliography
Chapter 23 Composer Index
Chapter 24 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

If Chase is correct that there are between 2,000 and 2,500 "requiem settings" in existence, he has pulled together a compendium of most of them.The book is a valuable resource for that reason alone.

Worship

The reference value of this work cannot be denied...

The American Organist, January 2004 - Haig Mardirosian

...the fruit of patient and careful, thorough and exhaustive scholarship...no description in a review such as this can begin to do it justice...Dr. Chase's study is an especially welcome addition to the literature.

The Diapason, November 2003 - John Ogasapian

...helpful for performers and theologians as well as those interested in music and church history.

Bostonia, Winter 2003-2004 - Michael B. Shavelson

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.

Pastoral Music, March 2004 - William Tortolano

Chase offers a broad, detailed survey of over 200 requiems and requiem-like compositions from the era of early Western chant to the present. Recommended. All music collections.

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