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Hector Berlioz: Requiem Mass
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When Hector Berlioz arrived in Rome he was twenty-seven, and of striking appearance. A mass of reddish auburn hair crowned a high forehead; the features were prominent, especially the nose; the expression was full of sensitive refinement. He was of an excitable and ardent temperament, but in knowledge of the world's ways often simple as a child.
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In the opening movement, "Reveries - Passions," one can perceive the different designs of these two Berlioz masters. Although their respective timings are within seconds of each other, they establish quite different moods. While drawing exquisite playing from his Bostonians, Munch phrases more tautly, with fewer tempo adjustments, than Davis. Munch seems more interested in the passions that the reveries; there is a subtle restlessness in his reading. Conversely, Davis evokes a "dreamier," almost impressionistic mood.
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As he originally wrote the Te deum, Berlioz envisaged the orchestra would take the central position (“east”) in a large church, with the great pipe organ placed antiphonally at the far end (“west”) of the church. The musical dialogue between the orchestra (“the Emperor”) and the organ (“the Pope”) would ... resound from one end of the church to another. Similarly, the two mixed-voice choirs would be antiphonally placed in the north and south transepts of the church, so at a glance the ground plan would represent an enlargement of the spatial separation of the four brass orchestras in the Requiem, which also are distributed to the four compass points.
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Bringing new life to classical music, conductor John Eliot Gardiner leads the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (renowned for its use of period instruments) in this stirring concert performance of the Berlioz masterworks "Symphonie Fantastique" and "Messe Solennelle." For this remarkable performance, the orchestra is joined by the exemplary Monteverdi Choir. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital 5.1.
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The next great work undertaken by Berlioz was the Requiem. It seems that, in 1836, the French Minister of the Interior set aside yearly, 3,000 francs to be given to a native composer, chosen by the Minister, to compose a religious work, either a mass or an oratorio, to be performed at the expense of the Government.
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Requiem Mass