- Date: 1936
- Composer: Herbert Howells
- Period: Modern (1910-1949)
Review
Howells' only son, Michael, died at age nine in 1935 from meningitis. In search of some emotional and spiritual release and consolation, Howells the following year completed an a cappella Requiem, mostly in English, for mixed choir and soloists; he had begun the piece before his son's illness, but it nevertheless seems strongly marked by the composer's tragic experience. Howells withheld the work, "for personal reasons," until 1980. This requiem should not be confused with Howells' related Hymnus Paradisi of 1938, which uses some of the same material and was published in 1950.For this piece Howells provided a limited organ accompaniment for rehearsal, specifying that it could be used in performance only "if absolutely necessary." In any case, the setting of Psalm 23 should always be unaccompanied. He also allowed the first, second, third, and sixth movements to be performed separately as anthems or introits.
The music's style is harmonically rich and deeply Romantic, but restrained -- in the manner of Fauré's Requiem but with a more pointed sense of grief and loss.
The first section is a melancholy setting in English of the Sarum "Salvator mundi" text. Toward the end, the choir splits into two antiphonal units, an effect Howells will frequently employ through the rest of the Requiem. Next comes a setting of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd," an austere treatment that begins with solos for soprano and alto (or countertenor). Third comes the first of two settings of the Requiem Aeternam; this is a desolate version for antiphonal choirs.
Howells' setting of Psalm 121 ("I will lift up mine eyes") opens with a baritone solo answered and shortly taken over by the choir, in peaceful, pastoral music concluding with a brief solo for tenor. The second Requiem Aeternam proceeds from a hushed, mournful beginning (vaguely reminiscent of the opening of Samuel Barber's contemporaneous Adagio for Strings), builds very gradually to a glowing climax at the light-bathed words "et lux perpetua luceat," and gently subsides in a long diminuendo.
The final section, "I heard a voice from heaven," alternates very briefly tenor, baritone, and soprano solos with the full chorus. It is truly haunted music that at one point acquires an almost bluesy edge, but dies away into a blessing for the dead, who rest in their labors. ~ James Reel, All Music Guide
