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"Requiem" for the victims of a pandemic

SATB, 2 Soloists, & Chamber Orchestra

A new work to be composed by Yvonne Freckmann

Difficulty: 4 · Medium Difficult

Length: 20 minutes

peace secular college university community classical soloists spiritual inspirational

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This project will include…

PDF score

9-month premiere window

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Description

A new secular “Requiem” as a memorial to the victims of COVID-19 and a way to reflect and heal as a community in music The Requiem shall be a choral piece with a chamber orchestra created to help people heal in a ritual gathering and lifting of voices, something that has been silenced for too long. As ensembles begin to reconvene, they will need music to commemorate the ordeal of the pandemic, the lives and opportunities lost, and to finally rekindle hope. As a composer I cannot develop a vaccine, but I feel called to make music to bring consolation in this time that has indelibly touched us all. By becoming a Consortium Member you receive: • Reproducible PDF's of score & parts, performable piano reduction • 2 rehearsal sessions via video call • Name of ensemble & director/conductor printed on inside cover of score • The experience of breathing life into a new piece! States represented thus far: Texas and Ohio 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 20′ 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗿: SATB, 2 Soloists + Chamber Orchestra 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆: Medium Difficult 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁: Original text by the composer and possible public domain poetry 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: July 15, 2022 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 1 Flute 1 Oboe 1 Clarinet 1 Bassoon 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀 2 Horns 1 Trumpet 1 Trombone 1 Tuba Harp Piano 3 Percussionists SATB Choir 2 Soloists 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 Violin I Violin II Viola Cello Double bass 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 To make music about the pandemic was never my intention, but in January 2021 something snapped inside. A friend lost her husband, the U.S. had hit the 400,000 death toll mark, and the statistics around the world soared as our spirits dove lower and lower. With there having been so much suffering and loss of life, I felt called to make a new work, a ritual work, to come together in large forces as soon as we were able. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 Much of the text I wrote in early 2021 as a way to reflect on the pandemic experience with the intention of creating a new work to help musicians, people, and ensembles heal and come together again. I will polish and refine the collection of texts and begin the process of text setting at the piano. The joy of a consortium is to have dedicated partners engaged in the process, and I plan to reach out for feedback during the process of composing this large-scale work. The project delivery also includes a performable piano accompaniment score. For inquiries, please contact Yvonne Freckmann through Consortio, newrequiemproject@gmail.com or the contact page of her website: https://yvonnefreckmann.com/contact

Lyrics

The text is a collage of original poems by the composer and reflections by choir members that speaks to our time of suffering, myriad emotions, and grief during the pandemic.

I. “Let us breathe”

In out in out
In out in out
Let us breathe
In out in out
Let us breathe again
Let us breathe
Alone, together
In out in out
Let us breathe
As nature intended
Let us breathe
Let us smile
May our lungs
Fill with air
Without fear
Without care
In out in out
Let us breathe again
Alone, together
Let us breathe

II. “Release”

Gentle souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.
Numb. Numb, from the incredible ups and downs.
Weary souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.
It was a combined feeling of opportunity and concern.
Anxious souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.
As the world stopped, time was both limitless and scarily finite.
Angry souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.
Uncertainty in darkness.
Fearful souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.
Gentle souls, may you feel release from suffering.
May you find peace.

III. “Grief”

What are the words for this sorrow?
For this pressure I feel?
Pearls cloud the view of tomorrow,
My heart in a frozen grip.

Where are the words for this moment?
For this disbelief I feel?
Many tears yearn to lament,
My mind in a maze of mist.

What are the words to heal?
My soul in a thundercloud,
ready to burst and reveal
and water their fresh graves.

IV. "They cared for us"

They cared for us
and we thank them.
We had freedom to explore,
but restrictions to stay.
They cared for us
and we honor them.
They were a family
to come home to
and forget –
They care for us
and we care for them.
They were like a lighthouse
in the darkness at the time.
They care for us
and we sing for them.

V. “Fine”

Fine. Fine.
I'm fine. We're fine.
Fine. Could be worse.
I am fine. We're fine.

How are you?
How are you doing?
How's your family?
How d'you do?
How was your day?
Hi
Hi, hello

VI. "The loneliness duet"

Frightful, but riveting.
Uncertain, yet relieving.

The meaninglessness of time
connected to the meaningfulness of time
and made the longest days
but the shortest months-

Frightful, but riveting.
Uncertain, yet relieving.

The silence. What silence?
Like static of an old tape recorder...
More like the clock stopping...
Sudden emptiness/chaos surrounds me.
I can only / I cannot hear myself think.

My children climb up the walls...
Every day is the same,
confinement, worry,
so much work!

Every day I ask, if I dare,
'When can I have a break?'

The loneliness pushes on my walls...
Every day is the same,
in this windowless cave,
so much work!

In loneliness and confusion,
I found quality time with my family.
I fear for the future, fear for my safety, and for the
safety of those around me.

There is something calm about it.
For the first time,
it was an ability to take a deep breath.
It was a needed revelation
in an unfortunate circumstance.

The meaninglessness of time
connected to the meaningfulness of time
and made the longest days
but the shortest months-

Frightful...and riveting...
Even though everyone is going through it
together I feel alone.

VII. “Affirmation”

We affirm our will to heal.
We affirm our wish to grow.
We accept our fragility.

In love of those who've gone.

VIII. "Conversations"

spoken: Continuing to make music honestly kept me sane.

Doubt.
Distance
Desolate
Separated

spoken: I ask, “When did the Golden Rule become tarnished?”

Solitary
Scared
Stillness
Cross

spoken: I lost all of my friends. I had to start over, but I found my people.

Quick
Confusion.
Community.
Cocoon

spoken: I feel like I met my dad for the first time.

Unceasing reflection.
Uncomfortable
Unprecedented
Unknown

spoken: ...I rediscovered myself and remembered that I was something beyond what I do.

Torn.
alone
Temporary
anxiety

spoken: Consonants? What consonants? I felt stifled, my face was trapped in like a sauna. Seeing all of everyone's faces is so surreal! I tell people "the top half of your face doesn't match the bottom half."

IX. "We sing together to remember"

We sing together to remember those who were lost.
With time we can heal together.

Music felt like something taken for granted
once it was lost.
Yet it showed a strange power to bind us all
even as we were apart.
As our voices join together
we can feel complete again.

We sing together to remember that which was lost.
Coming together through suffering
Coming together past pain.

Music was the thread that worked to patch us back together.
Now as we sing together (in choir),
we aren’t mending things back the way they were,
but are adding new pieces of fabric to who we are.

We sing together to remember those who feel lost.
Breaking the long isolation
Holding hands through uncertainty.

It makes me think of a patchwork quilt.
Music fills in the spaces in my heart
with wonderful colors and patterns
that weren’t there before
but exist beautifully in this new space.

We sing together to remember those who were lost.
With time we can heal together.
Live in our hearts until their rhythm slows
Stay in our minds as a precious melody

We can heal together
in memory of you.

About Yvonne Freckmann

From the whistling windmills of the Dutch landscape to the buzzing insects of the South African savanna, Yvonne Freckmann translates the soundscape of life into her music. A multilingual musician who grew up playing the piano and clarinet, she found her voice by combining electroacoustic and freely tonal music into one, all while remaining rooted in the concert music tradition. Freckmann often draws great inspiration from other creatives, and collaborations across disciplines with visionary musicians, theatremakers, and visual artists have empowered her to further explore the possibilities of sound and create experiences that engage the mind. Her music has been performed in over a dozen U.S. states and several countries, among them the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Israel, and Malaysia, and she currently lives in Madrid, Spain. During her travels with a microphone in hand, Freckmann records material and meets other people who inspire compositions, as chronicled in the "UNDA Cellotrónica" album with cellist Clara Rivière, their debut album released in May 2020. The previous year Freckmann was commissioned by award-winning contemporary pioneer SOLI Chamber Ensemble to write "Nest," an extended chamber work for mixed quartet with a soundtrack of field recordings of her home state of Texas. Over the past few years, Freckmann has worked on projects with harpist and theatremaker Iris van der Ende ("The Voice of the Windmill" and "Under the Bridge"), Zvov Trio ("Zvov Sensory"), Thompson Street Opera Company, Musical Bridges Around the World, and the Composers Alliance San Antonio, to name a few. Among other major festivals, Freckmann has had works premiered and featured in Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Cultura Nova Festival, Audiosfera (Reina Sofia Museum Madrid), SEAMUS National Conference, and the NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival. For her composition "Train" (2014), Freckmann was awarded the PatsyLu Prize from the International Alliance of Women in Music “Search for New Music” in 2015. To continue developing her craft, Freckmann has served as artist-in-residence in the Netherlands at the Werkplaats K atelier with her group Klanktheater (2017/2018), with the Kunstmeile Krems in Austria (June 2018), and attended the Sonic Mmabolela Field Recording Workshop in South Africa (2016). She has earned master’s degrees in music composition at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague as a Fulbright Scholar, the University of Louisville as a Bomhard Fellow, and a bachelor’s degree in music in piano performance and composition from Trinity University, all under the tutelage of brilliant teachers. For more information, please visit my website at: www.yvonnefreckmann.com For inquiries, please contact me through Consortio, yfreckmann [at] gmail [dot] com or the contact page of my website: https://yvonnefreckmann.com/contact