By Fredric Dannen
For centuries, composers have been inspired to set the liturgical text of the Catholic requiem mass to music, usually for chorus and orchestra. Mozart was still at work on his “Requiem” at the time of his death, and the classical repertoire includes settings by Verdi, Berlioz, Brahms, Fauré, Dvorak, and more contemporary composers such as György Ligeti, among many others.
Michael Hoppé, the best-known composer living in San Miguel de Allende, set eight texts of the Latin mass to music in 2018, with an orchestration for string ensemble and organ by Richard Bronskill, and entitled the work “Requiem for Peace & Reconciliation.” It was published that year by his own imprint, Cordially Yours Music. It seemed only a matter of time before the work was performed in San Miguel, Hoppé’s place of residence.
When the pandemic hit, choruses were among the first organizations to shut down. Chorale San Miguel’s last scheduled concert, an Easter celebration set for April 2020, was cancelled. Now Chorale San Miguel is at last returning for two Dia de Muertos concerts on Wednesday, November 2, at 2pm and 5pm, at the Templo de la Tercera Orden, on the corner of San Francisco and Juarez.
The Hoppé “Requiem” will receive its San Miguel premiere at the concert, which will also feature 17th century Mexican sacred music, and works by Pablo Casals, Matthew Lyon Hazzard, and Gwyneth Walker. The concert is a benefit for the installation of an 1875 pipe organ in the Tercera Orden temple.
With the participation of the Coro Ópera Guanajuato, under the direction of Edith Mora, there will be over 40 choristers. Malcolm Halliday, the Chorale San Miguel music director, is the principal conductor, although Mauro Ledesma, assistant conductor, will lead the vocal and orchestral ensemble for the Hoppé “Requiem.”
Tickets are being sold in US dollars online and at the door only, via the Boleto City website (boletocity.com), using the external Ticketleap platform. Because of the limitations of that platform, only major credit cards will be accepted, but not PayPal. Tickets are sold by section rather than by seat. The prices for the two concerts are US$37.50 for VIP, $25.00 for orchestra, and $17.50 for parterre. All seats are on the ground floor of the chapel.
Hoppé is a platinum-selling artist and Grammy finalist. His album “The Yearning: Romances for Alto Flute” was named CD of the Year by CD Review.
