Requiem (Webber)
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Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is a requiem mass written in memory of the composer's father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982. Many thought it a surprising turn for such a populist composer as Lloyd Webber to produce a piece of "serious" music, being his first and to date only full-blown classical work. The music mixes Lloyd Webber's melodic and pop-oriented style with more complex, sophisticated and (at times) even austere forms. Lloyd Webber himself called the Requiem "the most personal of all my compositions".
The work is scored for chorus, three soloists (tenor, soprano, boy soprano) and a large orchestra that includes organ, drum kit, and synthesizer. It was written in 1984; its first performance featuring such major names Lorin Maazel, Plácido Domingo, Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's wife at the time) and Paul Miles-Kingston. The piece earned a largely negative critical reaction, many citing its lack of true depth and musical unity as examples of the weakness of the work. It is rarely performed today.
The best-known part of the piece, the "Pie Jesu" segment, was a minor "hit" and has been recorded frequently outside of the parent Requiem, including by Sarah Brightman.
The work won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
[edit] Structure
As is usual, Lloyd Webber did not set the Gradual and Tract texts of the Mass. He divides the Sanctus between two movements, including the Hosanna part with the Benedictus. He does not set the Agnus Dei. He includes the motet Pie Jesu and a text from the burial service, Libera me.
