VONNEGUT: REQUIEM
AUDIO
Voces Novae and musicians; Susan Swaney, conductor
DURATION
About 40 minutes
WRITER
Kurt Vonnegut
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.) and chamber ensemble: clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, percussion (1 player), violin, double bass
CONCEPT AND WORLD PREMIERE
In 1985, Kurt Vonnegut attended the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem and was so shocked when he read the English translation, he stayed up half the night rewriting it. He referred to his new version of the Requiem as a secular humanist paraphrase of "the Council of Trent monstrosity.”
Voces Novae secured the rights to the Vonnegut requiem text and commissioned eight composers to set portions of the text to new music for chamber choir and instruments. The world premiere was performed twice on May 11 and 12, 2019 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington. Among the hundreds of attendees was the author’s daughter, Nanette Vonnegut, and seven of the eight composers.
Read the commemorative program from the world premiere, which includes Vonnegut's full requiem text, translation of the Latin Mass into English, and composers' notes.
ONLINE PERUSAL SCORE
https://issuu.com/garrop/docs/vonnegut_requiem_full_score_perusal
TO PURCHASE PERFORMANCE MATERIALS
- Full score: $65
- Parts: $45
- Choral score: $12 (16 score minimum)
To purchase the entire requiem for performance, please contact Gabriel Lubell at composerlubell@gmail.com
To purchase an individual movement for performance, please directly contact the movement's composer.
COMMISSIONERS
Voces Novae, Bloomington, Indiana. Supported by: Indiana University Arts & Humanities Council, Charles and Linda Pickle in honor of the Schelbitzki family, and Paul and Susan Sullivan. In memory of: Marian and John Gaskill, John Lawson, Sandy Wood Taylor, and Evans Woollen III
