Requiem Mass
  • msbreezy1226
    Posts: 11
    Our church is going to have its 1st ever sung Requiem Mass in Latin this year and I'm so excited!!! Could someone recommend a beautiful, on the easy side, Requiem Mass that a smallish mixed choir can do with organ or unaccompanied? Any help would be appreciated.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    http://institute-christ-king.org/uploads/music/MassDefunctis_lg.pdf

    Easily singable by a smallish mixed choir, and can be sung unaccompanied. Quite easy.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,471
    If the OP wants an OF Mass in Latin, (probably not but possible), then look at the Graduale Simplex, which is available for download from CMAA here.
  • msbreezy1226
    Posts: 11
    Thanks - got the links. I didn't state my question clearly. I'm looking for a 4-part polyphony-type Requiem Mass (maybe just the Mass parts) that's fairly easy and can be done unaccompanied or with organ for mixed SATB choir. Thanks. We have a schola to sing the propers.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Perhaps the Requiem by R.R. Terry. Does anyone have a copy, or should I scan it?
  • NJerseyTrad
    Posts: 12
    @chonak - please scan a copy, I would love to review it!

    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • msbreezy1226
    Posts: 11
    I can't find the R. R. Terry Mass readily available and would love to see it if you wouldn't mind scanning it. Thanks.
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    Sign me up for a scan, Chonak.

    Casciolini composed a Requiem for SATB. You can obtain a copy from Carlus-Verlag although if memory serves someone on here had a scan of it . . .
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    The Terry Requiem is mostly utility music; for the propers, the settings seem a bit reminiscent of Anglican chant, while the ordinary parts of the Mass are a choral setting of the Requiem chant ordinary. I don't know if Terry wrote a setting of the Dies irae, as we used to sing that with the Gregorian melody.
    terry-requiem-01.pdf
    16M
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  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 402
    The chants from the Requiem Mass are so beautifully simple that they really should be sung.
    Thanked by 3M. Jackson Osborn mmeladirectress Joseph Mendes
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,416
    This is far, very, very far from Terry's best work.
    If I hadn't seen his name on it I wouldn't have believed it was his.
    My respect for him prohibits further criticism.

    For my requiem I want the Palmer-Burgess adaptation of the Gregorian requiem, including the sequence. (In the Ordinariate Use we can have Dies irae in its proper place.)
    As an offertory anthem I want Spem.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,801
    If you're talking about mixed voices, it's either Fauré Op. 48 with organ, or Victoria 1583 without.
  • GerardH
    Posts: 462
    G.F. Anerio's Requiem is mostly for SATB choir (one or two movements require an extra voice). There's an edition on CPDL
    Thanked by 2StimsonInRehab madorganist
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    it's either Fauré Op. 48 with organ


    I'm sorry - Faure's setting is beautiful but IMHO it's been done to death recently. It's starting to take the place of Mozart's setting in terms of ubiquity.
  • Incardination
    Posts: 832
    The chants from the Requiem Mass are so beautifully simple that they really should be sung.

    I, also, would recommend the chant setting... but we've also done parts from the Victoria Requiem in conjunction with the chant - and there is a nice synchronicity between the two. There are lots of polyphonic settings - and many from the late 16th / early 17th cent. that (like the Victoria) work well with the chant. The Introit and Kyrie are fairly easy (pretty sight-readable)... but it depends on your group, too.

    The advantage of the chant setting is that it can become one of those go-to Masses in the future... once you do it a few times, it doesn't require nearly as much maintenance as a polyphonic Mass, and then it becomes a Mass that you can do at the drop of a hat, perhaps with a small amount of review. Plus, you'll start to see musical phrases in so many other Masses (e.g. all throughout Holy Week; Easter; and the Nuptial Mass to only mention a few), so it starts to provide a baseline of familiarity with other chant settings.
    Thanked by 1mmeladirectress
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 269
    The Victoria four voice Requiem, although less famous with its six voice sibling, is also based on the chant. Perhaps you can start with the chant and move to parts or all of the Victoria.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • barreltone
    Posts: 32
    Our choir read through the Casciolini Missa pro defunctis, and it seemed quite accessible.

    I don't see a PD version, however. Here's a link to order:
    https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/missa-pro-defunctis-sheet-music/18338257
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • barreltone
    Posts: 32
    Our small choir has also sung a setting by Robert Fuhrer, whose style sounds very classical period. His Requiem in C minor is SAB and very accessible, though as I recall there's some strangeness with the Latin text in one or two spots.

    I like his requiem 'im feierlichen Styl' even more, though our choir has not sung it yet. This one is SATB, and a slightly bigger work.

    These are available through Manfred Hoessl's site, and he provides scores in Finale format. Let me know if you're interested in a pdf and I can convert and send it.

    Link to the C-minor:
    http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Requiem_in_C_(Robert_F%C3%BChrer)

    Link to the 'im feierlichen Styl':
    http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Requiem_%27im_feierlichen_Styl%27_op._181_(Robert_F%C3%BChrer)
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    @msbreezy1226, I have transcribed the Missa pro defunctis a 4 by Steffano Bernardi (c.1577–1636), which is the shortest polyphonic Requiem setting of that era/style I have ever encountered (in terms of number of measures).

    • Introit: 26 measures
    • Kyrie: 23
    • Sequence (alternatim): 120
    • Offertory: 51
    • Sanctus: 17
    • Benedictus: 12
    • Agnus Dei: 17
    • Communion: 20

    Rhythm, harmony, and voice-leading are representative of the style, with a bias towards homophony due to its brevity. Please let me know if you want to examine some of the movements.
    Thanked by 3NJerseyTrad Incardination Paul F. Ford
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,801
    To me Fauré is fresher on 30th hearing than Führer on first, but if the request had been "We're grown tired of Fauré and are looking for something else" I might still have hesitated at Mozart with organ. We have done the fragment with string quartet and organ though.

    I look forward to someday seeing Stefano/Steffano Bernardi a 4 on CPDL. There's another Requiem for 6vv that's rather nice.
    Thanked by 2Aristotle Esguerra barreltone
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,801
    The (Giovanni) Anerio Requiem is indeed within grasp of an SATB group, having div. SATTB in Pie Jesu & Agnus III (and a short high clef SSAT quartet in Sequence); it's not as sublime as Victoria though. And if one is adding adornments to a schola's chant, you may as well just go straight to Ockeghem.
    Thanked by 1madorganist
  • msbreezy1226
    Posts: 11
    @aristotle esguerra, I would like to see your version of the Missa pro defunctis by Bernardi. Thank you.
    Thanked by 1Aristotle Esguerra
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 402
    Fauré made slight changes to the Requiem Mass texts, thus rendering it not usable during Mass.
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    What 'slight changes'? I know he omitted the Sequence and a few other sections, but could you be more specific? Genuinely curious.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    I find it hard to believe that CMAA would have done a "not useable" Requiem at the Colloquium.
    Thanked by 2StimsonInRehab Caleferink
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 402
    He slightly altered the texts of the Introit, the Kyrie, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum, but substantially changed the text of the Offertory (described below). He did not set the Benedictus (the conclusion of the Sanctus), and added two texts from the Order of Burial, Libera me and In Paradisum.

    Fauré made changes to the text of the Offertory; at the beginning, he adds an "O". He changed "libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of all the faithful departed") to simply "libera animas defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of the departed"). He replaced "Libera eas" ("Deliver them") at the beginning of the next verse with a repetition of "O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas defunctorum", and he omitted the third verse (beginning "Sed signifer sanctus ..."). He concludes with an added "Amen".

    More specifically for the actual ordinaries you can read the changes here:
    https://lyrics.fandom.com/wiki/Gabriel_Fauré:Introït_Et_Kyrie
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,048
    Also at CPDL, SATB settings of the Requiem mass by:
    Asola
    Morales
    Pitoni
  • ldknutson
    Posts: 17
    While on this topic, perhaps its somewhere else on the forum...

    Is there a nice little chant booklet for the Requiem that I can use for children's choir? I can make my own books from .pdf, obviously, but I bet someone's already done it and I can just simply BUY it!

    I just want a nice booklet that we can pull out for funerals. 45 copies.
  • Incardination
    Posts: 832
    @Idknutson, I don't know if you will find this helpful, but you are welcome to it. It is excerpted from my choir Book III (Passiontide, Holy Week, Requiem and Nuptial chant and music).

    The screen captures were from the Institute site... unfortunately, either I misunderstood, or they have a mistake in the Absolution (not the music, the prayers and responses). But I think that is easy enough to either annotate or correct.

    The margin is spaced so that it can be spiral-bound if desired. If the images are slightly fuzzy, they can be tightened by adjusting the rastering (beyond me, but one of my members does it before I print the books). Of course, large print version helps! :)
    Funeral Rites and Requiem Mass.pdf
    3M
    Thanked by 1ldknutson
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    When the Fauré Requiem was sung at the Colloquium in the cathedral at Pittsburgh, we did sing the Sequence, so at least that omission was corrected.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • msbreezy1226
    Posts: 11
    I like the Victoria Requiem very much. Unfortunately, I'm certain we can't handle 6 part. It's our first year singing it. The last time I went to the Colloquium, the Clemens non Papa was sung. It's on the public domain and it beautiful. Perhaps we can try a 6 part one next year.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-RmUmWTkE8&list=PLQ_xo-Sgc_rWl9gIKAhH6IjmtalPOSA48&index=2&t=0s

    This has the added benefit of having a nice recording on YouTube I can send to the priest for him to review :-)
  • Incardination
    Posts: 832
    There are two Victoria Requiems. One is SATB. Check CPDL.

    Here is an abbreviated form (only the Introit + the Ordinary).
    REQ4 Requiem (VICTORIA).pdf
    831K
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen mmeladirectress
  • cmbearer
    Posts: 75
    Faure's setting is beautiful but IMHO it's been done to death recently.


    Stimson, whether intended or not, your comment about the Faure REQUIEM being done to DEATH is a worthy "dad-joke" in my book!
    Thanked by 5tomjaw Incardination CHGiffen StimsonInRehab barreltone
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    RE: the Faure: omitting the Benedictus isn't totally uncommon in French repertoire, or at least it was often NOT sung post-elevation. The Gallican practice was to use a (devotional) eucharistic text (O salutaris, etc.) in that place.

    The really difficult thing in the Faure to wrangle in the liturgy post Pope St. Pius X is the linking of the Agnus and Communio in the same movement. You can certainly do it, but it's odd. In Pittsburgh, I did not find it totally satisfactory (although I love the piece and thought the chorus was great for it).
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    a worthy "dad-joke"


    Hah. That one was actually unintended. But in general I'm full of it them.
    Thanked by 2Incardination cmbearer
  • VocesCapituli
    Posts: 123
    Dear Aristotle,
    could your Missa pro defunctis a 4 by Steffano Bernardi (c.1577–1636) be transposed to a TTBB setting? Would love to have a look at it.
    Dirk
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,232
    it's been done to death


    Sly, you are. The nuance in your phrase is.....well.......words fail me......

    Actually, that depends on how many Requiem Masses one has attended "recently,"--not including one's own, of course.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Dad,

    One usually doesn't sing at one's own funeral, or play an instrument.
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 269
    “One usually doesn't sing at one's own funeral, or play an instrument.“

    But doing so would make the funeral more remarkable— and more memorable.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    Skip the embalming and it might work out that way.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    @VocesCapituli, based on a quick glance the Bernardi Requiem a 4 should work for TTTB if one were to transpose the soprano line down an octave. The alto line would be taken at pitch by a tenor with a reliable A4.

    Six of this setting's eight movements demand an F2 from the bass.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • VocesCapituli
    Posts: 123
    Wow, that would be possible for us! How could I obtain a copy?.
    D.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    @VocesCapituli, I have sent you an e-mail.
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