Requiem for the Living by Dan Forrest

The BBHHS & HHS Choirs & Orchestras combine to perform Dan Forrest's "Requiem for the Living" at St. Bernard Parish in Akron, OH. The performance took place on Saturday October 19th, 2024.
I. Introit - Kyrie 0:45
II. Vanitas Vanitatum 11:20
III. Agnus Dei 17:52
Sophie Daniel, Mezzo Soprano
Adeline Pelletier, Soprano
IV. Sanctus 24:43
V. Lux Aeterna 32:46
Greer Miller, Mezzo Soprano
Joey Herman, Tenor
Katherine Thiele, Mezzo Soprano
A Requiem, at its core, is a prayer for rest- traditionally, for the deceased. The five movements of Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living, (2013), however, form a narrative just as much for the living, and their own struggle with pain and sorrow, as for the dead. The opening movement sets the traditional Introit and Kyrie textspleas for rest and mercy- using ever-increasing elaborations on a simple three-note descending motive. The second movement, instead of the traditional Dies Irae, sets Scriptural texts that speak of the turmoil and sorrow which face humanity, while yet invoking musical and textual allusions to the Dies Irae. This movement juxtaposes aggressive rhythmic gestures with long, floating melodic lines, including quotes of the Kyrie from the first movement. The Agnus Dei is performed next (a departure from the usual liturgical order) as a plea for deliverance and peace; the Sanctus, following it, becomes a response to this redemption. The Sanctus offers three different glimpses of the "heavens and earth, full of Thy glory", all of which develop the same musical motive: an ethereal opening section inspired by images of space from the Hubble Space Telescope, a stirring middle section inspired by images of our own planet as viewed from the International Space Station, and a closing section which brings the listener down to Earth, where cities teem with the energy of humanity. The Lux Aeterna which then closes the work portrays light, peace, and rest- for both the deceased and the living.