Verdi - Requiem - Dies irae (Extrait)

Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901

I stumbled upon this tremendous video of Verdi’s Requiem earlier today and felt inspired by its stirring tones to share with you both the video and some background to this terrifying piece of music.

Verdi : Requiem - Dies irae (Extract)
Video sent by Quarouble

"Dies Irae" - from Verdi's Requiem
performed by the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado.

I’m sure everyone knows the music of the “Dies Irae”, featured here, as it has been used for dramatic effect in many films and commercials over the years. But what’s the story behind this nightmare-conjuring thriller music?

Verdi (1813-1901) is famous of course for writing operas – his most famous offerings are probably Aida, Rigoletto and Otello. Verdi spent a good deal of his life writing dramatic music for the theatre, but later in his life he felt the urge to branch out into different genres. He first experimented with writing requiem music when his friend and guide Rossini died in the 1860s and he was moved to organise a huge collaborative composition with 11 composers to mark Rossini’s death. The work was never performed. Disappointed but not disillusioned, Verdi, who had written the Requiem’s final movement, was pleased enough with his work to keep tinkering at it for a while, when out of the blue another death occurred – Alessandro Manzoni.

Manzoni, a poet and strong cultural figure in Italy, was greatly revered by Verdi. His death in 1873 was good timing (well, not for him), as Verdi had the workings of the Rossini Requiem which, with only a little rewriting, became Manzoni’s Requiem, and all Verdi’s own work this time. The Requiem was premiered on the 1st anniversary of Manzoni’s death, in Milan and was an instant success, despite its gloomy text:

Day of wrath and doom impending,
David's word with Sibyl's blending
Heaven and earth in ashes ending
Day of wrath and doom impending

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth
When from heaven the judge descendeth
On whose sentence all dependeth.

(English Translation)

Verdi used a big sound – four bassoons and four trumpets, three flutes and an ophicleide, a chorus and four soloists which resound together with an incredible FFFF marking in places. The “Dies Irae” is made up of nine sections, which you can clearly see on this video. Each section has its own melodic ideas, but they are always played together seamlessly to make an impressive and profound performance.

You’ve probably heard the music in countless films, TV programmes and commercials. It’s one of the most famous pieces of music around, but most people wouldn’t be able to name it! If you’re interested in reading more about Verdi, here are some links:

http://www.giuseppeverdi.it/Inglese/page.asp?IDCategoria=162&IDSezione=580&ID=19746
http://www.ci.hickory.nc.us/library/Columns/2007/10032007.html
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Requiem-(Verdi)

And why not treat yourself to a CD of the complete work:

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday Orlando Gibbons

My Music Theory wishes you a very merry Christmas and a Happy 525th Birthday to Orlando Gibbons, born (or at least baptised) on 25th December 1583.

So who is Orlando Gibbons? Apart from having a pretty splendid name, Orlando Gibbons was a Renaissance English composer who is still popular today – well at least he’s still popular in music exams and amongst early music enthusiasts! He was born in Oxford and got his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Kings College, Cambridge University, then worked as an organist and composer until he died at the ripe old age of 41. That wasn’t a bad age in those days, I believe, and even today apparently Kings
College commemorates his death with an obituary service in his name.

Long live Orlando!
Orlando Gibbons’ most famous piece of music is his madrigal “The Silver Swan”. Madrigals were invented in Italy and the first madrigals with the words translated into English arrived in England in 1588. They were an instant hit and sparked off a great flurry of enthusiastic composing across the nation – they were the ‘pop’ music of their day. If you had been born in the 16th century your mum would probably have been shouting “stop that racket” at you and your mates singing, one person per part, in your back room of a Sunday evening.

Madrigals came in 3 flavours – Proper, Ballets and Ayres. A madrigal proper employed word painting – musical illustrations matching the meaning of the words in the text, and were extremely contrapuntal – meaning that the voices weave around each other rather than all following the same melodic line, and they also used a lot of imitation to develop musical ideas.

Ballets were lighter in style and often danced to as well as sung. Ballets are famous for having a fa-la-la refrain, meaning that they had a chorus which basically consisted of the words “fa-la-la”. Simple but catchy! Ayres were songs, and could be sung with perhaps a lute accompaniment. The music was printed in books with each part facing in a different direction, so that the players and singers could sit around a square table and see their part clearly.

Here are the words to Orlando Gibbons “Silver Swan” madrigal:

The silver Swan, who living had no note,
When death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast upon the reedy shore,
Thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
"Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.”

If you’re studying Grade Five Music Theory, you could try composing a melody to these words – try to use some word painting, imitation and think about the cadence points. Then compare it to the original:

If you want to listen to more, we recommend the following CD available from Amazon which includes the "Silver Swan". It's a two-disc compilation of Italian and English Madrigals and is a great introduction to this beautiful genre of music.