For soprano, bass, mixed chorus and orchestra. Lyrics from the death mass and by Bengt Pohjanen in English translation by John Hearne.
Fredrik Sixten: When my dear friend Patrik Runeke became seriously ill and died - only 37 years old - feelings and thoughts concering life and death overwhelmed me. It was natural for me to turn to Bengt Pohjanen, with whom I had collaborated earlier, to ask him to formulate:
Introitus
Kyrie
Domine Jesu Christe
Sanctus
Pie Jesu
Agnus Dei
Lux Aeterna
Libera Me
In Paradisum
words of anger and of gratitude
words of guilt and of forgiveness
words of consolation, of love and hope.
These words of Bengt’s, in combination with the classical texts from the Latin Requiem Mass, form a kind of testament to mankind’s yearning for unity and perfection. In the final movement, In Paradisum, this yearning is borne forth to the God whom Bengt describes as being: Wisdom deep and loving. Stronger than death.
Poet: Pohjanen, Bengt / ur Mässordinariet
Scoring: 2hn-timp-str(64442)
Voice parts: SATB div, sopran solo, bas solo
Language: Swedish, English, Latin
