Los Angeles Master Chorale: Music to Accompany a Departure

The Los Angeles Master Chorale and acclaimed directed Peter Sellars have once again created a stirring, searing, and thoroughly contemporary work from an ancient source. Musikalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz, the most formidable German composer prior to J. S. Bach, is a musical response to the plagues of his time. It was the first German requiem, and the writing for solo voices is often florid in the Italian Baroque manner, while the choral sections build upon the German chorale tradition.

24 singers, with as many as 18 taking the solo parts at various points, gather for quiet, sober, beautiful, and tender communal grieving. Through its innovative use of solo and choral sections, the work powerfully conveys what it means to say goodbye and to have faith that the departed’s presence remains with us. With its reflective interludes and passionate outbursts, this performance captures both the beauty of life and the mystery of death, serving as both lamentation and celebration. The result is a stirring piece that reminds us that grief and transformation are eternally linked, and that saying farewell can be a source of inspiration and strength.

Music to Accompany a Departure is made possible by generous support from Lillian Pierson Lovelace, Patrick R. Fitzgerald, and Ron Myrick.