This recording captures the world premiere performance of Bruno Maderna's Requiem, which took place at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on November 19, 2009.
Composition History
Bruno Maderna's Requiem was composed in 1946, during and immediately after World War II, and was intended as a tribute to all who died in the conflict.
Composer Biography
After 1948, Bruno Maderna's musical style underwent a radical change, influenced by figures like Hermann Scherchen and Luigi Dallapiccola, leading him to consider his earlier works, including this Requiem, as 'naïve'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Maderna envisioned his Requiem as a 'crown of flowers' floating on a river, an image inspired by Ophelia's death in Shakespeare's Hamlet, suggesting a private and intimate elegy.
Composition History
The score of Maderna's Requiem was lost for sixty years, ending up in a university library in New York among the papers of a choirmaster, before being rediscovered in 2006.
Compositional Technique
Maderna's Requiem uses a modern symphonic-choral setup but omits woodwinds, replacing them with three pianos and percussion, creating an orchestral color with archaic references.
Composition History
The Requiem was considered Maderna's most important composition at the time, and he hoped it would bring him international recognition, but it disappeared after being sent to the USA for a potential performance.
You might also enjoy...
Holst: The Cloud Messenger & The Hymn of Jesus
Rutter: Gloria, Magnificat, Psalm 150
Ireland: Greater love hath no man
Maderna: Requiem
Petrassi: Magnificat - Salmo IX°
Messiaen: La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneus Jésus-Christ
Zemlinsky: Psalm 23, Op. 14
Berthier, J.: Choral Music
Buddha Passion
Berkeley: Stabat Mater, Batter My Heart & Magnificat
