Maslanka: Requiem (2013) - Northern Iowa Wind Symphony, Ronald Johnson conductor

"Requiem" (2013) by David Maslanka (USA, b. 1943). Performed by the Northern Iowa Wind Symphony with Dr. Ronald Johnson, Conductor, on November 18, 2016 in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Recorded with permission. "Requiem" is the result of a commission from the Brooklyn Wind Symphony. I always have the feeling that the music that shows up is the music that is needed by the people who asked for it. I have no pre-plan for writing, and I am always surprised by what comes out. The idea of a requiem is a laying to rest of souls. It seems like a somber and final thing. But the laying to rest is a resolution of the past, a clearing away, so that the new can be born. This came to be my sense of the need for the BWS situation. For anyone approaching the piece, the meanings will be different. "Requiem" was written very shortly after another memorial piece, "Remember Me", for solo cello and 19 players. This piece was my response to reading of the extermination of a Jewish village, and specifically one family, and more specifically of a year-old baby, in "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer. In my mind, "Requiem" and "Remember Me" are closely linked. It is my very strong feeling that musical sound transforms suffering, can actually resolve historical suffering. Issues such as the extermination of the Jews, Hiroshima, and the seemingly countless present-day atrocities, exist as open wounds in all of us. Musical vibration can heal these wounds, and allow us to move forward with openhearted compassion. ~~ David Maslanka ~~ October, 2016