Requiem
Paul Stanhope
ABC Classics
ABCL0119
★★★★
In 2022, when it was first heard, Limelight magazine described Paul Stanhope’s Requiem as ‘a piece for our times’ and indeed it is. Taking the structure of the Latin Mass for the Dead and melding it with Indigenous poetry from a variety of sources, Stanhope has created a 45-minute work of bewildering tonal effects. The voices of soprano Chloe Lankshear and tenor Richard Butler, together with the Sydney Chamber Choir and backed by eight leading Australian musicians combine to produce something unique. The words of this requiem are taken from female poets, Nath Das from India, Mary Elizabeth Frye and Emily Dickinson from America and Australian Indigenous poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker). The intention of a requiem is first and foremost solace for those the departed has left behind and Stanhope delivers this faithfully, skilfully interweaving the words with his unique compositions, sometime sad, sometimes joyful, but always appropriate. This is a very modern requiem. Don’t expect anything like Mozart, or even the pared down requiems of Fauré or Rossini, this is Australia in the 21st century.
-Michael Morton-Evans