MICHAEL COLINA (b.1948): Requinauts for Soprano, Tenor, Chorus and Orchestra

Description: This requiem - the composer's title is intended to suggest those journeying to rest, which points to the emphasis of the work; solace and consolation, not the apocalyptic visions of the romantic imagination, nor the idea of death as a terror to be feared - is even more a bewildering mélange of styles than we've had from the composer before. The piece is supported by pillars extracted from the Latin Mass set in bold, colorful neo-romantic style, as is Dylan Thomas' wrenchingly powerful 'And Death shall have no dominion', in a grippingly intense setting, arguably the high point of the work. Other poetry, by Richard Wilbur (adapted by the composer with considerable change of emphasis), Shakespeare (featuring the Dies irae as a kind of jaunty Totentanz), Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ann Thorpe and others have more of Hollywood or Broadway about them. A rather conventional a cappella setting of Auden's 'Funeral Blues' is followed by what seems to be the simply gorgeous slow movement of an oboe concerto (with no voices) on the same material. Rumi's 'Reed Flute's Song' suddenly introduces a tabla and a kind of whirling dervish chorus, unrelated to anything else in the piece, and the work ends with an over-the-top triumphal finale. For all its lack of coherence, though, there is so much fine, exciting and moving music in the piece that it amply deserves attention. Texts available on-line. Annie Gill (mezzo), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor), Royal Scottish National Chorus and Orchestra; Ira Levin.