Music by: Damien Geter
Piano arrangement by: David Isaac
Duration: 90 mins
Originally Commissioned by Resonance Ensemble 2020 Performed by Fort Worth Opera 2023
An African American Requiem is a twenty-movement work based on the traditional Latin requiem liturgy infusing spirituals and modern declarations relating to racial violence against African Americans, as well as a setting of Ida B. Wells’s speech Lynching is Color Line Murder.
FORCES
Singers:
SATB Choir
SATB Quartet
Orchestration:
Piccolo
2 Flute
Oboe
2 Clarinet
2 Bassoon
Contrabass
4 Horn
English Horn
4 Trumpet
2 Trombone
Bass Trombone
2 Violin
Viola Violoncello Tuba
Percussion
Timpani
Project Statement
Originally premiered by the Resonance Ensemble and Oregon Symphony, and is the first Requiem to honor African Americans who have lost their lives due to racial violence. Mr. Geter has integrated the traditional Latin Requiem with contemporary text, such as Ida B. Wells speech from 1909, Lynching is Color Line Murder, civil rights declarations, poetry, and the famous last words of Eric Garner and now George Floyd, “I can’t breathe”. The music is infused with elements of jazz, gospel, and spirituals.
MEDIA
