Requiem

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is a requiem mass written in memory of the composer's father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982. Many thought it a surprising turn for such a populist composer as Lloyd Webber to produce a piece of "serious" music, being his first and to date only full-blown classical work. The music mixes Lloyd Webber's melodic and pop-oriented style with more complex, sophisticated and (at times) even austere forms. Lloyd Webb... more

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is a requiem mass written in memory of the composer's father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982. Many thought it a surprising turn for such a populist composer as Lloyd Webber to produce a piece of "serious" music, being his first and to date only full-blown classical work. The music mixes Lloyd Webber's melodic and pop-oriented style with more complex, sophisticated and (at times) even austere forms. Lloyd Webber himself called the Requiem "the most personal of all my compositions". The work is scored for chorus, three soloists (tenor, soprano, treble) and a large orchestra that includes organ, drum kit, and synthesizer. It was written in 1984; its first performance featuring such major names as Lorin Maazel, Plácido Domingo, Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's wife at the time) and Paul Miles-Kingston. The piece earned a largely negative critical reaction, many citing its lack of true depth and musical unity as examples of the weakness of the work. It... less