Dan Forrest 🌎 Requiem for the Living
I have tickets to see this with a full orchestra on Sunday!
Longmont Chorale will salute military veterans at concert this weekend
The Longmont Chorale will say a special “thank you” to those who served in the U.S. military with its upcoming concert, “Salute in Song.”
The concert, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, will be held this weekend inside the Vance Brand Civic Auditorium at Skyline High School, 600 E. Mountain View Ave.
The Longmont Chorale, a nonprofit performing arts group, invites all veterans to join the tribute from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Entry for all veterans is $5.
This is the first time that the Longmont Chorale has hosted a concert to honor military veterans. Roger Jurgens, who works with the Longmont Chorale, said the group was planning a similar salute to World War II veterans a few years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic ended up preventing that from happening.
“Any time you can honor veterans, I think, is very significant,” Jurgens said.
On Sunday, the Longmont Chorale will perform a selection of music meant to celebrate veterans, including “Requiem for the Living.” The piece by Dan Forrest is written in the style of a Latin mass and has been performed internationally.
The concert will also feature a ceremony for Vietnam War-era veterans, in which they will be presented with a commemorative pin for their service. Vietnam War-era veterans are military members who served either at home or abroad between Nov. 1, 1955 and May 15, 1975.
“They were not very well-received when they came back from the war,” Jurgens said of Vietnam War veterans. “A lot of them refused to admit that they even were in the war, and they never wore their uniforms.”
Vietnam War-era pinning ceremonies have been held locally over the past few years, including at the Longmont’s American Legion Post 32 and at Boulder’s East Age Well Center.
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Since this upcoming Veterans Day will mark the end of the commemorative pin program for Vietnam War-era veterans, the Longmont Chorale wanted to give eligible veterans an opportunity to receive the unique token. Pins will be presented to veterans who have not yet received their pins during the concert.
“There are a number of people who have never gotten a pin,” Jurgens said. “It’ll be a benefit for those people and everybody.”
The Longmont Chorale currently has over 100 members. Recently, the group was given the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Jurgens was one of the people who sang at the New York City venue with around 40 members of the choir in March.
“It was a thrill,” Jurgens said.
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For more information about the composition visit: http://goo.gl/kihtZT
I. Introit—Kyrie at 0:42
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Hear my prayer, for unto Thee all flesh shall come.
Lord, have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy.
II. Vanitas Vanitatum at 10:35
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! (from Ecclesiastes)
Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest.
Full of tears, (from Dies Irae)
he said, Let the day perish wherein I was born.
(from Job 3:2--3)
III. Agnus Dei at 16:44
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us; grant them rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
grant us peace; have mercy on us; grant them rest.
IV. Sanctus at 23:33
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
V. Lux Aeterna at 31:11
May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord,
in the company of Thy saints forever:
for Thou art merciful.
Let perpetual light shine on them.
Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Grant us peace.
From the composer:
A Requiem at its core is a prayer for rest, traditionally for the deceased. The five movements of Dan Forrest's "Requiem for the Living" (2013), however, form a narrative just as much for the living—and their own struggle with pain and sorrow— as for the dead.
The opening movement sets the traditional Introit and Kyrie texts—pleas for rest and mercy—using ever-increasing elaborations on a simple three-note descending motive.
The second movement, instead of the traditional Dies Irae, sets scriptural texts that speak of the turmoil and sorrow which all humanity faces while yet invoking musical and textual allusions to the Dies Irae.
This movement juxtaposes aggressive rhythmic gestures with long, floating melodic lines, including quotes of the Kyrie from the first movement.
The Agnus Dei is performed next (a departure from the usual liturgical order) as a plea for deliverance and peace.
The Sanctus following it becomes a response to this redemption. The Sanctus offers three different glimpses of the "heavens and earth, full of Thy glory," all of which develop the same musical motive: an ethereal opening section inspired by images of space from the Hubble Space Telescope; a stirring middle section inspired by images of our own planet as viewed from the International Space Station; and a closing section which brings the listener down to Earth, where cities teem with the energy of humanity.
The Lux Aeterna which then closes the work portrays light, peace and rest for both the deceased and the living. Christ's words are the answer to the Introit's prayer for rest: "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Dan Forrest