Free Concert! On Your Computer!

As promised, music from my Verdi's Requiem concert at Royce Hall is here for your enjoyment (So all you LCCers who were wondering what the hell I was doing the night of the banquet, wonder no more). But before you download, a little background information to help you understand and enjoy this piece.

A Requiem is a Catholic funeral mass. Giuseppe Verdi composed this particular version of the Requiem as a memorial to two of his good friends who had passed, composer Gioacchino Rossini and writer Alessandro Manzoni. At the time Verdi composed his Requiem, the Church taught that death was something to be feared, and that if one was not morally perfect, you were going to Hell. Verdi composed with this fear fresh in his mind, wondering whether his friends were saved, and whether he himself would be saved upon his own death.

This piece is the final movement of the Requiem, titled "Libera Me" or "Deliver Me". Here is the original latin text, with its translation.

Dies irae, dies illa,
calamitatis et misariae,
dies magna et amara valde.

The day of anger, that day,
of calamity, of misery,
an exceedingly great and bitter day.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Eternal rest grant them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda, quando coeli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death,
on that dreadful day, when the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

The soprano solo is performed by Erin Wood, the four-part chorus is performed by both the UCLA Chorale and the Angeles Chorale, and the instrumentals are performed by the American Youth Symphony.

Now that you have been properly prepped, click on this link and enjoy!