Messe des Malades - for SATB choir and organ (2022) Requiem for the Forgotten - for SATB choir, low strings, organ, and harp (2020-23)
It's always gratifying, dare I say comforting, to hear a piece of 'classical' music composed within the last ten years that actually sounds like music. And by that I mean music that you can easily relate and commune with, music that can evoke strong emotive reactions. After all, the definition of music is: the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. The music of American composer Frank La Rocca (b. 1951) achieves exactly that.
The booklet notes written by La Rocca open with this paragraph: Writing music for liturgy requires a composer to reconcile considerations that can appear to be in conflict. The music must, first, be reverent, and strive to bring glory to God. It must flow from a spirit of humility and simplicity. Unlike works purely for the concert stage, music for liturgy is not (or should not be) primarily a vehicle for the composer to project some "originality" of artistic vision. Such an approach can easily result in music for its own sake, rather than music that serves to deepen participation in the Liturgy through inner illumination of the texts. Finding that place where one's own voice as a composer can join the voices of the past - as a fresh contribution to the great history of liturgical music - requires constant vigilance and introspection, especially in an age where originality is revered as the highest of all artistic aspirations. I have found this tension to be a potent source of creative inspiration.
I've emphasized 'voices of the past' because despite being completed barely one year ago, and to a certain extent employing modern techniques, the Requiem for the Forgotten transcends time, and sounds and feels as if emanating from a distant past, adrift in time and space. The downtrodden and homeless are the forgotten in this case, and "each of these souls is of completely equal dignity and worth to every other human person" {Booklet Notes}. Some of the music, based on Gregorian chant, brings me back 60 years. When as an 8 year old, I would accompany a four-voice male choir on the pipe organ during funerals. The hymns which were rooted in Gregorian chant, although sombre and stoic in character, were extremely uplifting as well. Nowadays, during ceremonies they now call 'A Celebration of Life', I wouldn't be surprised if someone chose to pipe in some Taylor Swift to cheer up the attendees, despite being totally inappropriate and out of place.While it avoids the 'fire and brimstone' power of some of the portentous settings of the Requiem by Mozart, Verdi and Berlioz for example, this setting of the Requiem stirs the soul. With richly harmonic and textured singing by the choir and soloists set over minimal instrumental lines, not only does the music evoke the proper sentiments, but it does so without artifice. The Benedict XVI Choir is perfectly suited for this type of music. Their seamless tonal blend, combined with simple yet genuine delivery, directs your focus on the essence of the music.
Jean-Yves Duperron - March 2024 Requiem - Introit