When I compose, I like keeping this quotation in mind: "In the beginning was the note, and the note was with God; And whosoever could reach for that note, reach high and bring it back to us on earth to our earthly ears -- he is a composer and to the extent of that reach partakes of the Divine."
--- Stephen DeCesare
STEPHEN DECESARE's Requiem Mass was written in memory a friend (an opera singer) who was hit by a Boston train in 1993. From this piece, Maestro DeCesare has been so kind as to submit the Recordare to the Review. DeCesare's Requiem had its premiere in 1994 and was recorded in 2003.
The singer for this recording is Fred Scheff, who portrayed "Piangi" in the original touring company of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit The Phantom of the Opera.
The Recordare of the traditional Latin Requiem follows the Rex Tremendae Majestatis (King of Tremendous Majesty) and immediately precedes the Confutatis Maledictis (The Damned are Confounded). [The Recordare] is a direct prayer to Jesus Christ to remember it was for even the worst sinners that He died on the cross. This prayer also calls upon Him to remember those sinners whom He absolved in His own lifetime (i.e. Mary Magdalene and the thief on the cross) and asks Him to grant the singer the same mercy in the afterlife.
Each of the Sub-Movements listed above come from the larger Sequence known as the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), which is a step-by-step description of the Apocalypse. The Recordare, one can see, is brilliantly placed. It continues the plea for salvation (Salva me fons pietatis) which ends the Rex Tremendae and occurs directly before the terror of the Confutatis, in which the damned are consigned to Hell.
Strangely enough, of the many movements of the traditional Requiem, it is the Recordare which many composers find difficult to set convincingly. However, Maestro DeCesare has risen to this task admirably, in this editor's humble view.
When asked if there was anything extraordinary in this piece which the listener should notice, Maestro DeCesare replied, "What to listen for -- I would just say feel it. I write what my heart tells me and in that piece I wanted tears."
And yes, the tears are there…
--J.N.