[Magdalen] Rutter's Requiem

[Marion Thompson]

Over all, damning with faint praise.  Chacun a son gout.

Marion, a pilgrim


On 8/20/2016 7:34 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford wrote:
> I can't get tired of the Faure.  It is just one of those peak moments in
> all music.  I find much of Rutter's stuff very personal and moving,
> including the Requiem and Gloria, but certainly not limited to that.
>
> I also find Lauridsen's somewhat different takes on these streams of art to
> be very deep and fulfilling. Whitacre is doing some fantastic stuff as
> well. As for which will end up in the grand scheme of Great Works, time
> will tell.
>
> Durufle is a very different story. I was just completely unimpressed with
> it when I sang it. Not bad, but certainly not great either. I found out
> what the deal is when I was writing my own take on the Requiem idea and
> discovered that Durufle didn't actually write a Requiem at all; he arranged
> the chants of the RCC Requiem for hot shot organ and orchestra, with choral
> obbligato. I do not care for most chants (which are to music much as bugle
> calls are to music, so far as I'm concerned, and there's actually a good
> analogy there), so it stands to reason that his arrangement of the chants
> left me cold.  And of course for those who have a preference for that sort
> of thing, it's absolutely understandable that they would naturally prefer
> the Durufle.
>
> I sang the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem several times, including once at
> Carnegie Hall, so when we were asked to sing it there again, I opted out.
> Singers are not treated very well there (or much anyplace where an
> orchestra is operating in my experience). The leader was Rutter, and I kind
> of regret not going. I understand he was a very fine director (no surprise
> there. He's one of the finest choral directors alive).  Kind of. Almost.
>
>
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 9:30 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm  listening to Requiem  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Another good Requiem is the one by French composer Durufle.   It's
>> based on the plainchant Requiem.  It's been overshadowed by the
>> far more popular Faure Requiem which is, of course, very beautiful  also.
>>
>> A lot of recordings have both on the same disc.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> David S.
>>