Reimagining a Requiem: Using the text/musical structure interface in vocal music is now available to read on their website.
I'm delighted to announce that I have a new article published by Question Journal about how I approached writing Requiem.
You can read the article by clicking here.
The Magdalen Weeping (The National Gallery. (2017). The Magdalen Weeping. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/workshop-of-master-of-the-magdalen-legend-the-magdalen-weeping. [Accessed 16 May 2021].)
Abstract
The text of The Requiem Mass is one which has been set to music hundreds of times over many centuries. What can a contemporary musical setting of this ancient text add to this body of work and how can it be made relevant the future?
In this paper, I outline the compositional processes behind the composition of Requiem, premiered in Princeton (USA) in 2018 by The Westminster Williamson Voices. In particular, the relationship between musical structure (understood as an abstract form derived from the text’s themes and secondary research into those themes, from which harmony and motive have been derived) and text is explored as a means of reimagining the text. Finally, this paper identifies compositional processes derived from this relationship which can form a basis for future text settings.
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