verdi 5

The anti-clerical composer with a deeply Catholic soul

kopte de Catholic Herald op 22 aug. 2011

(een blad dat ik verder niet ken...)

'Last night BBC Four gave us the chance to enjoy Verdi’s Requiem from the Proms, or, to give it its proper title, the Requiem for Alessandro Manzoni, by Giuseppe Verdi. 

This was Verdi’s great tribute to Manzoni, Italy’s greatest composer paying his respects to Italy’s greatest novelist. But Manzoni is not really known in this country, so it is hardly suprising that we never talk of it as the Manzoni Requiem.

I myself have got through I Promessi Sposi ['De Verloofden', hist. roman van Manzoni] in translation and found it an entertaining read, but not much more than that. As for the Requiem – well, it is a mammoth work, ideal for a huge venue like the Royal Albert Hall, but it was never designed for liturgical use, and thus represents the death of religious music: out of the sanctuary and into the concert hall; out of its true setting as prayer, and into something that resembles operatic entertainment.

But... 

in the midst of Verdi’s great symphonic poem... 

are the words. 

He may manipulate the text to suit his musical ends, but the words themselves are the words of the Requiem Mass, in the form in use until 1962. 

Once they would have been familiar to everyone who went to a Catholic funeral. Now, they are only familiar from the sleeve notes of CDs, which is rather a pity. Unless one goes to a Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form, one is never likely to hear the Dies Irae, Thomas of Celano’s great poem, in the setting for which it was written. Likewise, one is never likely to hear the words of the Offertory, which perhaps form the most beautiful part of the Verdi Requiem.

Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriæ...

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,

free the souls of all the faithful departed

from infernal punishment and the deep pit.

Free them from the mouth of the lion,

do not let Tartarus swallow them,

nor let them fall into darkness.

But may the standard-bearer Saint Michael,

lead them into the holy light, which you 

once promised to Abraham and his seed.

O Lord, we offer You

sacrifices and prayers of praise.

Accept them on behalf of those souls

whom we remember today.

Let them, O Lord, 

pass over from death to life,

as you once promised 

to Abraham and his seed.

This represents a perfect little poem... 

and such lovely words evoke lovely music. 

Nowadays, though, are people just going for the music? 

Have they forgotten the meaning of the words? 

Are they even aware that the words set to music are the sacred words of the Mass? 

I fear they must be – for far more people go to concerts than ever go to church. The words of the Mass have become a historical curiosity: they have been secularised.

Mind you, I am not complaining about this: I don’t particularly like the Verdi Requiem, but I acknowledge its magnificence, and in the face of such a work of art one can hardly complain. But one can but notice that art and religion have parted company.

[Cath.Herald]