This coming Saturday at 4.30pm in Christ Church on Convent Road, the Bangkok Music Society Choir will perform Requiem In D Minor by Gabriel Fauré, known for its serene and gentle character, in gratitude for the life of HM Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother, who sadly passed away last Friday.
The work was first performed in 1888 in Paris where Fauré was an organist for many years. He wrote the music for the Catholic Mass of the Dead leaving out the parts that express fear and wrath of death, instead including only those words which see the departure of this life as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards new happiness, rather than as a painful experience. He did this, also, by changing some of the texts to make the meaning more universal. The two final movements, Libera Me (Deliver Me) and In Paradisum (Into Paradise), are from the burial service and not the customary Requiem Mass. While mostly ignored during the composer’s lifetime, performances of this Requiem became widespread from the 1940s and has been a popular means of consolation for millions ever since.
This concert is the first of this season for BMS Choir and also their first with conductor Simon Green as new music director. Joining them in this moving and loving farewell for the late Queen Sirikit will be other singers who have responded to the “Come And Sing” invitation.
Registrations are open until noon on Saturday for those who already know the work or are competent sight readers. Rehearsals start at 1pm. A small chamber orchestra will accompany, together with the church pipe organ, played by Morakot Cherdchu-gnarm.
There is no admission fee, but donations are welcome. To join the show as singers, visit shorturl.at/VO0aO.