Touring

The Los Angeles Master Chorale and acclaimed director Peter Sellars have once again created a stirring, searing and thoroughly contemporary work from an ancient source. Musikalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz, the most formidable German composer prior to J.S. Bach, is a musical response to the plagues of his time. It was the first German requiem, and the writing for solo voices is often florid in the Italian Baroque manner, while the choral sections build upon the German chorale tradition.

For over an hour, 24 singers, with as many as 18 taking the solo parts at various points, gather for quiet, sober, beautiful, and tender communal grieving. Symbolically, this staging encapsulates the message of the Musikalische Exequien—the term “exequies” deriving from the Latin word for a “train of followers.” In Schütz’s singularly moving dramaturgy, they/we are gathering, learning to accompany a departure.

Through its innovative use of solo and choral sections, the work powerfully conveys what it means to say goodbye and to have faith that the departed’s presence remains with us. With its reflective interludes and passionate outbursts, this performance captures both the beauty of life and the mystery of death, serving as both lamentation and celebration. The result is a stirring piece that reminds us that grief and transformation are eternally linked, and that saying farewell can be a source of inspiration and strength.