The Duruflé Requiem

In the soaring beauty of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, we honor and remember departed loved ones with luminous music offering the reassurance of eternal life. Ešenvalds illuminates the grief of loss in Ancient Prairie with pensive violin. A serene Funeral Ikos by Tavener is a meditation on passing from this world to the next, with hope for everlasting light in Elgar’s timeless Lux Aeterna (Nimrod) from the Enigma Variations. Our centerpiece is the extraordinary Duruflé Requiem, an achingly beautiful masterwork of hope and spiritual anguish, and a prayer to “free the souls of the faithful” into paradise where a chorus of angels await. Accompanied by chamber orchestra and organ, the work is profoundly moving in moments of dramatic intensity and exquisite restraint in an uplifting evening for reflection and renewal.