Our Jerusalem Choir will offer an extraordinary gift to God and all of us during worship at the end of the month when they perform Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and many other composers have written Requiems, but Fauré’s is, in my opinion, matchless for its ethereal beauty and its visceral evocation of the promise of life eternal that is ours in Jesus Christ. It is music that doesn’t weigh the listener down with the somberness of death as much as it lifts the listener heavenward in the hope of eternal rest, eternal joy, and eternal love in the Kingdom of God.
Fauré wrote his Requiem in response to the loss of his father, and even as he worked on the composition his mother died; he knew well the powerful grief that washes over us and fills us when a loved one dies. Still, his composition doesn’t focus on death, nor does it focus, as traditional Requiems do, on the Day of Judgment. Rather, his celestial music turns our focus upward to heaven, our ears attuned to the sound of the heavenly choir.
Most Requiems are built on the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Mass for the Dead, and Fauré follows that path, though loosely. He begins with the traditional Introit and Kyrie: “Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy”. He then moves to the Offertoire, in which the singer lifts up prayers of praise to the Lord God.
The third movement is the traditional Sanctus, similar to what we sing each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: “Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the Highest”.
Then comes the Agnus Die: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Let eternal light shine on them O Lord throughout eternity.” The fifth movement, the Libera Me, speaks to the traditional focus on the day of wrath: “Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on the day of Judgment.”
And last comes the shortest movement, the In Paradisum, which fills the listener with hope and peace. Even without the words, Fauré’s music will lift your eyes, mind, and heart heavenward: “May angels lead you into Paradise…May a choir of Angels receive you...”
Fauré’s Requiem is the perfect piece of music for us to hear as we walk through Lent, for it reminds us that in our Lord’s Resurrection death has been vanquished, utterly defeated. We have the sure and certain promise of life eternal in our Lord Jesus Christ: “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (John 11:25).
Our Choir will perform the Requiem at both services on Sunday March 27th. Coincidentally, the Requiem will also be performed by the Christ Church Choir at the National Cathedral on Friday April 1 at 7:30 pm. Don’t miss this extraordinary piece of sacred music.
Grace & peace
Pastor Skip
