Singing for peace

Martin Luther’s translation of the Latin hymn “Da pacem Domine” as “Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich” (“Grant us peace”) has been set by numerous composers. We recommend settings by Heinrich Schütz (Carus 3.086/90), Felix Mendelssohn (Carus 3.090/40), Andreas Hammerschmidt (Carus 5.175/00), Charles Gounod (Carus 3.082/20), Javier Busto (Carus 7.369/00), Ivo de Vento (Carus 3.082/40), and Thomas Jennefeld (Carus 7.436/00).

“Dona nobis pacem” is a phrase from the Agnus Dei section of the Latin mass. Our recommendations include settings by Piret Rips (Carus 7.513/00), Ralph Vaughan Williams (Carus 93.016/00), Johannes Matthias Michel (SAA: Carus 7.516/00; SATB: Carus 7.516/50), and J. S. Bach's setting from his Mass in B minor.

Shalom chaverim is a Hebrew folksong that can be translated as “Peace, friends”. In the Shalom-Quodlibet from chorissimo! green, children can express their desire for peace by singing this traditional song in a round. Peter Hamburger has also arranged this song for SATB choir (Carus 3.095/20). Michael Schütz's arrangement for SATB choir of another Hebrew folksong on the theme of peace, Hevenu shalom alejchem, calls for peace in all the world. Both arrangements appear in our collection of pop arrangements for church choirs, Morning has broken.

As director of the Dresden Kreuzchor during the Second World War, Rudolph Mauersberger directly experienced of the destruction of Dresden in February 1945. He composed his Dresden Requiem between 1947 and 1948, intending it as an "Evangelical Mass for the dead […] such as the Protestant Church does not yet possess.” Consequently, while the work follows the structure of the Catholic Requiem, it uses predominantly German liturgical texts. Mauersberger conceived of the work as involving three choirs, each positioned in different spaces of the church.

While this traditional spiritual is not an explicit response to war, its expression of pain and despair resonates with feelings of powerlessness. Hans Lüdemann’s arrangement of Sometimes I feel like a motherless child for SATB choir and piano begins with a solo alto lament, recalling classic recordings of the song by Bessie Griffin and Odetta.

Schönberg’s Friede auf Erden expresses hope for what the composer described as “reine Harmonie unter Menschen” (“pure harmony between people”). The work takes listeners on an emotional journey from initial stability, to a more dissonant central section reflecting the brutality of war, before a more tender and optimistic conclusion. Friede auf Erden was one of Schönberg’s last tonal compositions, and remains one of the most challenging of acapella works to perform.

“Im Frieden dein, o Herre mein“ (In Your peace, o my Lord) is a close paraphrase of the Latin “Nunc dimittis”. Bernard Blitsch draws on the original medieval hymn melody in his beautifully sparse setting (Carus 3.235/20).

Messages of peace permeate Bach’s cantata Der Friede sei mit dir BWV 158. Alongside the titular first movement, the third movement “Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Frieden fahren” expresses sentiments of peace, death and resurrection. The concluding chorale “Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich” in Bach’s cantata Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats BWV 42 uses an additional verse by the Lutheran composer and poet Johann Walter (1566).

In this song of peace for children’s choir (Carus 9.001/00), Peter Schindler and lyricist Maik Brandenburg describe how peace is not only achieved on a grand, international scale between countries. Peace can and does exist everywhere, from the flowers the move in the wind, to the smiles that one never forgets.

Jacek Sykulski wrote The Peace Meditation shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Although it is scored for SATB choir and soprano solo, the work is without words since no language is sufficient for conveying the pain suffered by many. The work continues to be performed as an expression of sorrow in difficult times.

In Peter Schindler’s musical about “the weal and woe of the world” (Carus 12.842/00), none of the four elements are shown to be more important than the others. Likewise, no nation can rule over another. Ultimately, what matters is togetherness, since everything else destroys the world.