Requiem
Arrangement for chamber orchestra (arr. Urs Stäuble) op. 148, 1852/2024
„Der geistlichen Musik die Kraft zuzuwenden, bleibt ja wohl das höchste Ziel des Künstlers“ (“The artist’s supreme calling is to devote his energies to sacred music”). These words were written by Robert Schumann in January 1851 – even though, up to that point in time, his compositional output had been almost entirely secular. The following year, however, he composed his Missa sacra, op. 147, and the Requiem, op. 148. In these works he sought new forms of expression for the liturgical texts, to which end he repeatedly deviated from the precise wording of the originals. Both in terms of the text and the overall musical conception, his Requiem is certainly suitable for concert performances alongside its traditional use in church.
This arrangement for chamber orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, timpani and strings) enables the work to be performed by smaller ensembles while preserving its distinct choral-symphonic character.
| Original version | Arrangement for chamber orchestra |
| Soli (SATB), Coro (SATB), 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Clt, 2 Fg, 2 Cor, 2 Tr, 3 Trb, Timp, 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Cb | Soli (SATB), Coro (SATB), Fl, Ob, Clt, Fg, Cor, Timp, 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Cb |
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Composer
Robert Schumann
| 1810-1856Robert Schumann is still primarily known as a composer of piano and lieder and as a symphonic composer. In his later creative years, however, he saw the composition of choral music as an important focus of his work. Even today, it is important to discover a largely unknown Schumann, whose choral music masterfully combines popular appeal and artistic ambition. Carus offers Schumann's complete works for mixed choir and for female choir a cappella and with piano. They demonstrate his love of experimentation, his sensitivity in the selection and musical realisation of the texts and, last but not least, his independent choral style, which places particular emphasis on refined details in the composition. Personal details
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Arranger
Urs Stäuble
| 1951Urs Stäuble studied at the Conservatory of the Music Academy in Basel (organ with Eduard Müller, piano with Klaus Linder) and at the University of Music in Vienna (organ with Michael Radulescu, orchestral conducting with Karl Österreicher, choral conducting with Günther Theuring). In addition to teaching at the Basel Music Academy (1980–2016), he worked as an organist and choir and orchestra conductor in various European countries and Australia. Personal details