John Rutter - Requiem - III. Pie Jesu - King's College Choir, Cambridge
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- "The Requiem by John Rutter is a musical setting of an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, which Dr Rutter completed in 1985.
The third movement (as shown here) is the motet Pie Jesu (pious, or blessed, Lord Jesus). It begins with a soprano soloist (here a boy treble from King's College Chapel Choir) singing with a very light accompaniment, with only slight involvement of the chorus echoing the words "Dona eis requiem, Dona eis sempiternam requiem". (Adapted from, and courtesy of Wikipedia).
Here is the text, Latin first (as sung here) and the English translation:
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem,
requiem æternam, dona eis Domine,
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem,
sempiternam requiem.
(From 'Dies Irae,' Missa pro defunctis)
Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest,
Rest eternal, grant them, Lord,
Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest,
Everlasting rest.
I took these pics over the past few (rather hot) days in the Peak District National Park: Derbyshire (Eaton Dale; Parwich and Grindon) and Staffordshire (Butterton; Lichfield Cathedral (Chapter House: replica of a C8 Anglo Saxon Cross from the Staffordshire Hoard exhibition, and C15 fresco depicting the Virgin Mary's ascension to Heaven)).
Stephen Cleobury: Conductor
King's College Chapel Choir
An EMI Recording
Absolutely beautiful the music the sining and the video
One of my favorite pieces. Thank you for adding your lovely photos.
Mmmm, lovely music. Thank you for making that available. After an afternoon with good friends, this music (and images) has been a perfect start to my evening.
The combination of the music and the photographs gives me such a sense of peace. I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but you have a beautiful, calm writing style. The music, the photos and your words, are all of a piece. Thank you for all the effort you put into this.
Thank you for publishing this....
Sublime!
I do Michael, and I love it as much as his Dormi Jesu, which I think is quietly sublime. My best.
Thanks Marty. The spire is in fact that of St. Bartholemews church at Butterton, Staffordshire. Speaking of Staffordshre, Lichfield Cathedral is quite wonderful, as is the city itself. I'm lucky enough to live only 45 mins drive away.
As always Frederick, you simply "get it", and I am happy that you do. We are kindred spirits I think.
Simply sublime :D
What a bop!
Beautifully done - I thought I recognized the Parwich spire from our days on the Tissington Trail...
Really beautiful ! Thank you !!
I recall the many "disgusted, from Tunbridge Wells" variety of comments on Rutter's Anthem "This is the Day" (which I also loved) at the Royal Wedding and I commented elsewhere on CZcams: "The fact is, for huge numbers of people, it moved them deeply - one only has to look at the thousands of moving comments here and elsewhere from people whose musical tastes don't usually include church anthems. If a composer communicates, evokes deep emotions, then that's the mark of a true musician".
In March 2015 the choir will go on concert tour in the USA.....:)))
Colin, I'm not able to reply to you directly.Many of us including myself love this music, but if it does not agree with you, that is your prerogative, and I would never argue with you over it. I happen to be a specialist in light music, as a member of the Robert Farnon Society, and still am a classical musician.Now I feel that the problem some have with this music is to think of the musical component and the textual component as forming one indissoluble whole.Music has the power to reach us on its own terms, absolutely regardless of any outside influence and inspiration. Any work that we respond to we are receiving with our own faculties - our minds, ears, and eyes (assuming the ability to read a score and mentally hear what the symbols on the page represent), and not the composer's. It can never be otherwise. And in the process of absorption we form our own subconscious subliminal images, which in a sense are what introduced us to the piece in the first place. Therefore, anything that we might receive that indicates something to us that is counter to what we are receiving, nature of inspiration or symbolism, etc., as an intrusion on our individual perception and might not necessarily be taken by us as welcome. It is a matter of getting a direct message from the music we are listening to, and in my case, even though I for one adore the music (I fully understand that you do not), I do not hear it as a religious document, the various texts create something too specific for me, and cause me some discomfort as a result, which is why I endeavor to distance myself from the text as much as possible. I do not hear it as a direct fit, despite the reality of the text and despite the composer's avowed intention.Now, someone can easily tell me that by so doing, I am missing out on the point of this work. On the contrary, I am getting quite a bit from the music, and I personally do not need any distraction to spoil it for me, which is what such can easily become for me.
Hi Iain. You were right about the weather, but in fact it's been pretty photogenic, despite the downpours. Marvellous, moody skies.
I do hope you enjoyed your visit to the Peak District, and do upload your photographs please!
Thank you for your generous comments Buf451.
Beautiful ! Rutter's music is so right for these times... just the right mix of modern and the traditional. So much better than that awful "Happy Clappy" rubbish that has infected so many Christian churches. You are the master of the lens !
Thank you.
In the case of his Requiem, John Rutter wrote it following his father's death in 1983: "My father had a good ear, but no musical training ... so I wanted to write a work that, if he had been sitting in the front row, he could have appreciated".
You are very good and Rutter is very brilliant! My choir sang "Candlelight Carol" during one of our last performances using a new arrangment. Write this down on the research: you will love it for sure!
Corale Novarmonia - Candlelight Carol (J. Rutter)
Thanks Michael. By the way, I long for cool, damp weather here in England - it's been terribly hot over the past few weeks!
One of my musical heroes is Dmitri Shostakovich. On being asked what music he liked, he once replied "I like all music - from Bach to Offenbach". The mixture of high art and populism may be seen in his own musical output. The painful and dissonant (and wonderful!) 13th String Quartet contrasts sharply with his populist pieces, which may be heard often on Classic FM ( e.g the "Romance" from the film score of "The Gadfly" - itself quite derivative, but nonetheless well loved).
I very much enjoyed your comment Iain. And I think Shostakovich was a wise man, in that it's beyond silly to take a trenchant position on any piece of popular music; art in general for that matter. One can say "I like, or dislike", but going beyond that is for the professional critic - interesting, and possibly educational, but ultimately futile in the presence of popular appeal.
Coming up to the peak district tomorrow - but I rather fear the weather is about to break, so I won't be able to match your wonderful as ever photography.
Thanks. I hope you will not mind my saying that your comparisons are a bit unreasonable, if not entirely unfair. John Rutter would be the first to agree with you regarding his musical credentials apropos the likes of Fauré - indeed John Rutter has said of himself "most of the music I've written is fairly inclusive: I don't write for a clique of contemporary music buffs - that's not who I am". / continued
It was a bothersome evening and I was rather tired, so I do apologise for my somewhat acidulous remarks. I think the point is here that if a piece of music moves huge numbers of people, the composer has done his job, has communicated - and that's all that matters in art. The affective impact of this particular piece by Rutter is keenly felt by people who are by no means even classical music dilettantes. Subjective opinions are fine, but to attempt to build an argument upon them is futile.
Hi Irena - alas again, your comments are showing up as spam - I have no clue why! Thanks again.
Forgive me Irena - are you saying that you are facing your Maker imminently, be it Great Nature, God, the Universe?
Warm regards,
Ant
Well, I won't argue with any of that! Take care.
I wish you well with the weather. I am sure it wont last for too long knowing the usual Blighty climate! Do you know his Gaelic Blessing?
RVW & Britten, threw off the sentimentality of the Victorians in their church music, but Rutter has reverted to a sort of neo-Victorian style which is so easy on the ear one hardly hears it. I've just listened to MacMillan's 'Miserere'; I won't pretend that I loved it, but I did respect and admire it because he is making music which is austere, deeply spiritual and - in its way - very beautiful. It's the difference between pure cold spring-water and over-sweetened, warm elderflower cordial.
Thank you Irina, I was slightly concerned about your welfare. As to Bella Donna, I'm afraid I do not know. My best regards to you.
First, how do you define "fine" music? Second, Rutter didn't write this piece for solo boy soprano, he wrote it for solo soprano - indeed in his own recording with the Cambridge Singers the soloist is a professional female soprano. Finally, you might want to listen to the composer himself as to his intentions in this piece, here: czcams.com/video/SpTHLMh4E1/video.htmlg
Best wishes, as ever.
Forgive me, but it was you who complained about the "cliché" of boy trebles in the context of this work. Goodness knows, where will the idea of cliché end: do we start eschewing whole categories of soloists just because they hold so much popular appeal, for compelling reasons? Is this lofty perspective of yours a culmination of misunderstood, yet earnest self-improvement? Just enjoy beauty without auto-flaggelation. Sir John Betjeman once said: "Men hate beauty - they think it's wicked".
Sentimental, sub-Faure! Since Faure wrote his Requiem in the 1880s, people have been imitating it, some well and with sincerity (Durufle) and others much less well (Lloyd-Webber, Jenkins and Rutter) and with scant sincerity. I only hear cloying sentiment in these English Faure-rip-offs. Such music is more about the cash to be made from boy sopranos singing saccharine melodies than any desire to make authentic sacred music. Howells, Vaughan Williams, Britten, you should be living now!
Why do you resort to making personal remarks about me? By focusing on one point in my argument, you evade other points I raised. If you can only mock me for my 'lofty perspective' and 'earnest self-improvement' (instead of engaging in a reasoned discussion) it's probably best if we end the conversation here and now. After all, when someone resorts to insults, they've lost the argument. Enjoy the beauty? There IS no beauty in this music, only easy sentimentality. It's not 'wicked', it's weak.
The Pie Jesu in Faure is often sung by a woman so I don't think that invalidates my point. "Fine Music"?? I don't know. I can't define it but I know it when I hear it - or I THINK I know it! But that doesn't mean that I like it. I often admire music I don't like and I sometimes like music I can't admire. Jolene by Dolly Parton always moves me but I know it isn't fine music. I just feel that Rutter has forsaken the tradition of authentic church music in favour of easy popularity. Regards!
No-one could deny that this music has a popular appeal but that doesn't make it fine music, even less music suited to the liturgy of the Requiem. I know I risk being accused of snobbish elitism but such music lacks rigour or originality - it's too 'nice'. Why, for instance, must the Pie Jesu be sung by a solo boy soprano? It's become such a cliche. Rutter disappoints because he makes no attempt to continue the great tradition of English church music. Composers like Howells, Rubbra, /cont.