Stanford: Requiem / The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan

Featuring

Adrian Leaper
Mark Duley
Frances Lucey
Colette McGahon
Peter Kerr
Nigel Leeson-Williams

Colman Pearce
Virginia Kerr
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
RTÉ Philharmonic Choir
Charles Villiers Stanford

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Recording & Production

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland won a Critics' Award at the 2004 Cannes Classical Awards for its recording of Joly Braga Santos's Symphony No. 4.

Composition History

Stanford's Requiem Mass was composed in memory of the painter Lord Leighton, a significant figure in English culture who died in 1896.

Composer Biography

Despite being a towering figure in the English musical establishment, Charles Stanford remained deeply Irish, as reflected in works like his Irish Symphony and six Irish Rhapsodies.

Compositional Technique

Stanford's Requiem is a central work in his output, uniting his love of opera and song in its vocal ensembles with his skill as a symphonist through the economical use of thematic 'cells'.

Composer Biography

Charles Stanford, born in Dublin in 1852, began composing at the age of four and became a choral scholar at Cambridge University in 1870.

Compositional Technique

The scale of Stanford's Requiem is comparable to the great Requiems of Berlioz and Verdi, featuring extensive use of four soloists and Italianate vocal writing.