Purchase includes:

1. Individual PDF files for each part.

2. PDF file for the score.

3. Cover, Score, and Parts as a combined PDF file.

4. MP3 MIDI recording.

5. Original Musescore (.mscz) file.

About the piece:

Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, between 1887 and 1890, and is one of his best known works. A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead. In seven movements, the work focuses on eternal rest and consolation, and was originally scored for soprano and baritone soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ. Libera Me is the 6th movement.

The piece starts with a sustained D minor chord peppered with a pulsing ostinato of two quarter notes (heartbeat), a rest and the upbeat to the next two quarters. This sets up a calm but sorrowful atmosphere from which a soaring melodic line emerges, “Free me, Lord, from eternal death on that terrible day when the heavens will move and the earth, when you come to judge the world with fire.” I imagine that the melody’s sharp leaps are quite technically challenging for vocalists, but this is bread and butter for cellos.

The overall form of the piece is ABA, with a fiery energetic middle section in 6/4. The B section’s faster tempo and complex meter opens up the possibility for some cool triplet-duplet rhythmic figures. The pulsing ostinato from the beginning of the piece returns and relentlessly leads us back to a familiar recapitulation. This ultimately takes to a final solo “Free me, Lord, from eternal death.”, and tragic D minor ending.

Despite its recognition today as an ultimate sacrosanct classical masterpiece, Faure’s Requiem is a more humble tale of a creation through iteration, adaptation, and reuse. Libera Me, for instance, was first composed in 1877 as an independent work. In 1887–88, the first version of Requiem was published with just 5 movements, which did not include Libera me. In 1889, Fauré added the Hostias portion of the Offertory and in 1890 he expanded the Offertory and added the 1877 Libera me. In 1899–1900, the score was reworked for full orchestra. This final version premiered at the Trocadéro in Paris on 12 July 1900, during the Exposition Universelle. In 1924 the Requiem, in its full orchestral version, was performed at Fauré's own funeral.

In classical music, a fundamental principle is to respect and accept every marking and notation in the score as law, tied to the composer’s (mostly) irrefutable intentions. This principle feels stale in today’s more fluid and dynamic music creation scene (this arrangement notwithstanding). However, it’s worth recognizing that in the 19th and 20th centuries, even for Faure, one of the foremost French composers of his generation, his compositions were continually tweaked and improved over many years. Even masterpieces were and are negotiable.

Fauré wrote of the work, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest."

In this all-cello rendition of Libera Me, I hope that you may discover interesting highlighted interpretations of the rich emotions and textures of the original work.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Faur%C3%A9)

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9

• https://lyricstranslate.com/en/libera-me-domine-free-me-lord.html

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot4ulSeYcHU

Arranged by Justin Zhao.

If you would like the original Musescore (.mscz) file in addition for educational purposes, please send us a message with your request.