Requiem for Remembrance Day - Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead

Verdi REQUIEM: Lest We Forget
A Chorister’s Perspective
By Ronald Jewell

“LEST WE FORGET” – this is our call for individual and collective remembrance, for the many who have gone before us and paid the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom, justice and peace. We owe them our everlasting gratitude, and give thanks for their lives. For each we implore: "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord" – Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine".

In almost all cultures from the earliest times, music has been a means of expressing all of our emotions when facing death and the dead, and to give solace to the bereaved. Musical settings of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead express all of this, and the musical & emotional apex of this development is perhaps the Messa da Requiem composed by legendary Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. Scored for four soloists, double choir and full orchestra, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts – much as he did in his operas (think Aida, La Traviata, or Rigoletto) – throughout the work to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The tears, the anger and the search for comfort and meaning are all contained in the words – and magnified in Verdi's score, which is sweepingly operatic one moment, and powerfully intimate the next. As the Toronto Star said of the work: “If everyone could face death with the help of a live performance of Verdi's Requiem, the world would have no more need of grief counsellors.”

I can think of no better way to honour our dead and help us remember than to participate in a performance of this monumental work. In my case, it was as a chorister with a 100-voice chorus and acclaimed soloists all under the direction of Maestro Sabatino Vacca.

A performance of this work begins not with the downbeat, but when the conductor takes to the podium and stands there, motionless, as the hall becomes silent, a moment of silence to prepare us – Lest We Forget. The silence becomes the music. The Maestro slowly raises his baton, and the cellos begin the first movement with a whisper and we all enter with a sotto voce Requiem, requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine - Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. The table is set. The spiritual feast is to follow.

All eyes of the Chorus and Orchestra are on the Maestro, and we see every nuance, every little shape of a phrase, every accent magically reflected in his hands, his body, his face – we see yearning, pleading, rage, sorrow, anguish, joy, ecstasy … love and peace. Of course, Verdi gave it all to him, but he takes it and gives it form. Our challenge is to honestly portray the complex emotions that anyone has to deal with when losing someone they hold dear.
The Dies Irae is terrifying. Rex tremendae is awe-inspiring. The Lacrymosa as sorrowful as anything I have ever sung (Mournful day. That day of sighs ….).
The Sanctus, initially fearsomely declamatory with a brassy fanfare to announce “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts”, then takes off with a sprightly 8-part fugue scored for double choir stating that “the heavens and earth are full of Thy glory; Hosanna in the highest!” The angelic Agnus Dei (Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them rest …) which is always magical to me because it is sung a capella by the soprano and mezzo-soprano, a most haunting sound – then the choir fills in the rest of the hymn.

And finally the Libera Me, where the Soprano cries out, pleading, “Deliver me, O Lord from the eternal death on that dreadful day when the heavens and the earth shall be moved and Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.” It ends with a repeated,” Deliver me, O Lord, from the everlasting death, on that dreadful day.” And then, pianissimo, “Deliver me. Deliver me”.

As the final chord dies away, we remain in that mystical space, a sense of longing, a sense of hope. The Maestro’s arms still outstretched, the music continues in the silence. It calls not for immediate applause, but a moment of introspection, reflection, and remembrance, our personal prayer – “LEST WE FORGET”.

This article was thoughtfully written by fellow chorister Ronald Jewell.

In 2011, Big Lady Justice sang as a fellow chorister with Ronald Jewell accompanied by the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra.

Arlington National Cemetery

November 11th should be a holiday in Ontario in honour of all individuals who sacrified their lives for our freedom.