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Dies Irae: A Guide to Requiem Music
Author(s): Robert Chase (Author)
- Publisher: Scarecrow Press (UK)
- Publication Date: 27 Jun. 2003
- Language: English
- Print length: 736 pages
- ISBN-10: 0810846640
- ISBN-13: 9780810846647
Book Description
Traditional requiem texts, among them the anonymous medieval Latin poem
Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), have inspired an untold number of composers in different ages and serving different religions, Western and Eastern. This book, the first comprehensive survey of requiem music for nearly half a century, provides a great deal of diverse and detailed information that will be of use to the professional musician, the musical scholar, the choral conductor, the theologian and liturgist, and the general reader.The main body of the guide is a description of some 250 requiems. Each entry includes a concise biography of the composer and a description of the composition. Details of voicing, orchestration, editions, and discography are given. An extensive bibliography includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, prayer books, monographs, and articles. An appendix lists more than 1700 requiems not discussed within the main text.
Editorial Reviews
Review
If Chase is correct that there are between 2,000 and 2,500 “requiem settings” in existence, he has pulled together a compendium of most of them.The book is a valuable resource for that reason alone.
…the fruit of patient and careful, thorough and exhaustive scholarship…no description in a review such as this can begin to do it justice…Dr. Chase”s study is an especially welcome addition to the literature. — John Ogasapian
…helpful for performers and theologians as well as those interested in music and church history. — Michael B. Shavelson
Dr. Chase has not missed anything in this one-of-a-kind, voluminous, comprehensive guide…This is a cornucopia of information: Everything thing is there…well worth the inclusion on the active shelves of libraries, musicians, liturgists, and general readers. — William Tortolano
Chase offers a broad, detailed survey of over 200 requiems and requiem-like compositions from the era of early Western chant to the present. Recommended. All music collections.
About the Author
Robert Chase is Professor of Music at Pace University, White Plains, New York. He is active as pianist, organist, conductor, and choir trainer.
Jahja Ling is Associate Conductor, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
