Abstract
The article discusses the musical, psychological, philosophical and aesthetic essence of the Latin Requiem, the Missa pro defunctis, the Mass for the Dead. It examines in particular detail the famous Sequence Dies irae. Numerous Requiems up to the most recent ones are discussed and compared. Concepts from empirical aesthetics of Berlyne (1971, 1974) and Konečni (1979, 1982) are used to analyze the relationship between the hypothetical “power” of parts of the Mass (in psycho-aesthetic terms) and its effect on listeners. Historical reasons are examined for the difference in approaches to music for the services for the deceased between Western and Eastern Christian Churches (especially with regard to the use of instrumentation).
Highlights
The article discusses the musical, psychological, philosophical and aesthetic essence of the Latin Requiem, the Missa pro defunctis, the Mass for the Dead. It examines in particular detail the famous Sequence Dies irae
Historical reasons are examined for the difference in approaches to music for the services for the deceased between Western and Eastern Christian Churches
Why were we put in this world if we must die? Is there another side? What will happen there? Can we hope to obtain peace? These are questions of deep contemplation and emotion, and, in regard to the quality of the music through which ideas are expressed, of musical aesthetics
Summary
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine—Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. The very first line of the Roman Catholic Missa pro defunctis (Mass for the dead) implies a web of relations between the living supplicant(s), the deceased potential recipients of the extraordinary favor requested, and a hopefully beneficent God. Dona eis Domine” the word “requiem” is in the fourth grammatical case (the accusative), and that “eis” means “them”, so that the humble request is to give (eternal) rest to them not to us In this sense, the mental stance of a relatively small number of composers who wrote requiems to be performed at their own funerals is somewhat incongruous. Composers who undertook the task of writing requiems, especially in the 18th and 19th century, were already very famous and did so at the peak of their creative powers They were men mature as both musicians and human beings, who had experienced grief, joy, pain, and both the dashed and the rekindled hope. The Requiem Mass, more than any other musical form, explicitly deals with spirituality and metaphysics; a composer who has experienced the complexities and vagaries of life may have been more likely to have deeper sources of understanding and psychological inspiration from which to draw (cf. Abra, 1995)
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