Choral Composition Highlight: Herbert Howells and his requiem.

So, I thought I'd share/talk about a lesser known yet incredibly respected choral work, Herbert Howells' Requiem. As relatively niche choral music can be, Howells is even further ostracized. He's a composer who is especially performed in British circles and Anglican/Episcopalian church yet has trouble escaping that general crowd. So...in other words, he's one of those composers "you either know or don't know."

To add salt to the wound, the Requiem is a work which has only recently been performed. Why? Howells actively hid the work and wouldn't allow it to be performed. It's not that he felt shame over the Requiem. Rather, it's the same reason everybody seems to love most 20th century/romantic works: it was too personal a work. Requiems are masses written for the dead, and sometime around 1930 Howells was commissioned to write one. As he was writing the work, his son tragically and suddenly died during the writing processes. Stricken with grief, Howells completed the work and locked it in a drawer, refusing to let it be performed (or let anybody know it was written) for 50 years. Thankfully, the work has been receiving a lot of attention and performances recently, and it's quickly become one of his more talked about works.


At any rate, I think the work is worth sharing (especially if you don't know it) because of the emotional power it packs while existing in that lovely quasi-tonal world a lot of early 20th century choral works seems to sit in. The work is very modal in nature, using an almost plain-song like melody in the first movement selected. I've also included the final movement as an example of the wide scope of emotions the work covers. While there's no "happy" or even "peaceful" section of the work, Howells does cover a wide range of emotions in the work ranging from outright rage to quiet defeat to an almost bittersweet admittance of passing on. I highly recommend listening to the entire work-it's seriously worth it (though tissues may be needed!)