Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University's Masterworks Chorale, under the direction of Mark Carlisle, will present its spring concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 21 in Tilson Auditorium.

The 60-member choir will perform with a chamber orchestra of strings, brass, timpani, and organ, and School of Music faculty member Christine Boone as soloist.

The Duruflé "Requiem" was commissioned in 1947 by the French music publisher Durand, and is written in memory of the composer's father. The work is for SATB choir, with mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, though current performance practice (approved by and acceptable to Duruflé, as indicated in the score) permits either or both the mezzo-soprano solo and baritone solo passages to be performed by sections within the choir.

In the Masterwork Chorale's performance, the Pie Jesu for mezzo-soprano will be sung as a solo by Boone, while the passages indicated for "baritone soloist" will be performed by the combined men's sections of the choir. The "Requiem" exists in three orchestrations: one for organ alone, one for organ and full orchestra, and for organ and chamber orchestra, which will be performed April 21.

At the time of the commission, Duruflé was working on an organ suite using themes from Gregorian chant, and he incorporated many of these themes, as well as ones from the Gregorian "Mass for the Dead," into this choral work. His "Requiem" is set in nine movements, omitting the Gradual and the Tract, as is often the case in other requiem settings. The omission of these texts, and the inclusion of others, such as the Pie Jesu and In Paradisum, makes this work calmer and more meditative overall than some other settings.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for non-ISU students, and free for ISU students with a student I.D. and children under the age of 10. Tickets will be available at the door, or by calling the School of Music at 812-237-2771.

Contact: Mark Carlisle, School of Music, Indiana State University, at 812-237-2761, or Mark.Carlisle@indstate.edu

Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications and Marketing, 812-237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu