Requiem

Description

Gyorgy Ligeti's Requiem (1923-2006), composed in 1965, was foundational for a certain modernity in music but also fits into a centuries-old tradition of this mass for the souls of the deceased. There is a common formal and semantic structure that can be found in Ockeghem, Mozart, Cherubini, Duruflé, and even here in Ligeti, but in his version, let’s say, "apocalyptic." The static introitus encourages contemplation and then gradually leads to vertigo through the sharp chromaticism of the vocal treatment and the tightening of sound layers. Then the orchestra and soloists intervene in sudden bursts in the Kyrie, leading to a violently contrasted Dies Irae where the electrified orchestral material tears through the vocal mesh. Finally, the Lacrimosa, shared between two abandoned solo voices and an orchestra reduced to ashes, restores a sound status quo closer here to nihilistic gaping than to serenity. Following this, Ligeti's Le Lux aeterna (1966) emerges, where microtonality gives rise to a subtly fluctuating light that is never oppressive. The four pieces by Clytus Gottwald are transpositions of instrumental pieces adapted for choir. They lend themselves more (Ravel's Soupir, Les Angelus, and Debussy's Des pas sur la neige) or less (Mahler's Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen) well, but the meticulousness of their arrangement is captivating. As for the interpretation by the Kammerchor Stuttgart, masterfully conducted by Frieder Bernius, its perfection flirts with a cold objectivity that suits this music quite well. (Jérôme Angouillant)