MUSIC

Our season concludes with the transcendent beauty of Fauré’s Requiem. Composed in 1888, this Requiem has been a treasured favorite since the mid 20th-century. Fauré deliberately chose a new and gentler direction in his Requiem, omitting traditional movements (Dies Irae and Tuba Mirum) that composers such as Brahms and Verdi used as platforms for drama. Instead, he added movements of intimacy: the tender Pie Jesu and ethereal Paradisum. In so doing, Fauré painted a mood of serenity and consolation: a vision of heaven without the threat of damnation.

The concert will also feature Herbert Howell’s Hymn for Saint Cecilia (text by Ursula Vaughan Williams) and excerpts from his Requiem, along with Jubilate Deo by Benjamin Britten.

Susan Consoli, Soprano
David McFerrin, Baritone
Ross Wood, Organist