The Fauré Requiem

by crucesignatus1096

                  

 

Recently, a friend and I discussed our paths to traditional Catholicism. Some study history or theology directly, ultimately finding the truth. For others, an artistic experience initiates their road to the true Faith as our ancestors practiced it, pure and unadulterated. In my case, a little known piece from France served as my spiritual spark plug.

Gabriel Urbain Fauré, a French romantic, composed his Requiem as the 19th century neared completion. As an adolescent, many realized I had a knack for music. My grandmother forced me to audition for a well known choral group, and I made it. Nearly twenty years later, I am still associated with this chorus.

 

            

Fauré served as organist at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, France.

With each passing year, and more musical experience under my belt, I learned how to read music, sight sing, identify major and minor scales, and so on. After about six years, I progressed to the upper echelons. Although the first piece I sang at the top was Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria (itself deserving of a blog post), Fauré’s Requiem soon followed. If the work’s melancholic passion and beauty strikes the listener, imagine singing it in grand acoustics. Our brilliant director, who, like most of my colleagues, professed no religion, slowly explained the meaning of each movement. I learned that this was what the Church, in her divine wisdom, used for the funeral of every Catholic. Rest in peace was not a mere Halloween plot device. The faithful truly implored the Lord and King, Jesus Christ, to free them from the pains of eternal death. During the Libera Me, as everyone sings the dies irae, dies illa (day of wrath), trumpets blaze. As our assistant director, a true New Churcher, explained to us, this marked the arrival of the day of judgment, and one could sense terror in the accompaniment and vocals.

Eventually, we recorded this work at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, and it has remained with me ever since. I still have most of it memorized.

The Requiem is not the most well known sample of Catholic artistry. Indeed, it even has theological problems. Fauré changed “deliver the souls of the faithful departed” to “deliver the souls of the departed.” The change in text changes the theology. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine how I would be who I am today had I not encountered this kind of music. I still read, prayed, cried, and lived a lot more as life progressed, but things ultimately worked for the best.