RUSSIAN REQUIEM for Boy-soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Bass, Children’s choir, Mixed choir and orchestra

1. Prelude – Forgive Us, O Lord
2. Not Under the Foreign Skies [Anna Akhmatova]
3. The Scream [Zinaida Hippius]
4. A Prayer for the New Martyrs of Russia | The Stars of Death [Anna Akhmatova]
5. Forgive me, O Lord [Psalm 50]
6. Pray for Me [Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky]
7. Lord, Thou Hast Been my Dwelling Place [Psalm 90/91]
8. Grant Them Rest with the Saints [Zinaida Hippius]
9. Interlude. Memory eternal [Anna Akhmatova]
10. The Night. Prayersfor the Death [Alexander Blok, Viktor Sosnora]
11. All Mighty God Shall Rise and Judge [Gavriil Derzhavin]
12. It is Good that there Is no Tzar
13. Troparions – Eternal Rest
14. I Will Be, O Russia, in your Dreams [Irina Ratushinskaya]
15. The Country of Slaves, the Country of Masters [Mikhail Lermontov, Alexander Pushkin]
16. Prisoner’s Prayer to the Guardian Angel
17. That which Has No Name [Georgi Ivanov]
18. My Soul – Memory Eternal [Boris Pasternak, Osip Mandelstam, Psalm 90]

YEAR: 2007

DURATION: 85′

INSTRUMENTATION:
3(picc, alto fl).3(cor anglais).3(bass cl).3(db bn) – 4.3.3(bass trbn).1 – timp. perc (trgl, flex, crystal glasses, crot, bass drum, cym, tam-t, gong, tubular bells, glsp, 2 vibr, bass marimba). harp. piano. cel. org ad lib. strings – CD (ringing of bells)

TEXT BY: Holy Anthems combined with poetry by Russian authors (Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Joseph Brodsky, Gavriil Derzhavin, Zinaida Hippius, Georgi Ivanov, Mikhail Lermontov, Ossip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, Alexander Pushkin, Irina Ratushinskaya, Viktor Sosnora – in Russian)

PUBLISHER:
Sikorski

COMMISSION:
Co-commissioned by Musikfest Bremen, Philharmonische Gesellschaft Bremen and Semana de Música Religiosa Cuenca

PREMIERE:
14 September 2007, Bremen
Elzbieta Ardam (mezzo-soprano) – Nikita Storoyev (bass) – Estonian Boys’ Choir – Latvian State Choir – Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra – Markus Poschner (conductor)

SYNOPSIS: