By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin Contributor
The musicians of America are responding to the Sept. 11
tragedies, and the UCLA Chorale will add its voice in a memorial
concert in Royce Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Chorale will sing
Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with
the UCLA Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Donald Neuen and Jon
Robertson, respectively.
“When the tragedies happened, I suggested that we do
something different as a memorial concert,” said Neuen, the
conductor of the UCLA Chorale.
America has seen an outpouring of religious and medical
responses to alleviate the sorrow and pain of Sept. 11. Now student
musicians are using their art to perform two of the best loved
works in the Western musical canon to the same end.
“Both of the pieces stand out at the top of the
repertoire. You don’t need to get used to them,” Neuen
says.
The lilting melodies of the Requiem were popularized in the 1984
film “Amadeus,” about the life of Mozart.
Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” is ubiquitous as a
Christmas hymn as well as an advertising jingle.
However, in light of the tragedies, both pieces are taking on
more serious identities.
“The Beethoven Ninth Symphony, called “˜Ode to
Joy’ in the fourth movement, talks about the millions of
brothers and sisters of humankind banding together for the good of
each other in a joyful, united oneness,” Neuen said.
The traditional Requiem mass was a Catholic service performed
for a funeral. The film “Amadeus” implied that Mozart
was self-consciously writing the funeral mass for himself, an idea
that seems plausible since he left it incomplete when he died on
Dec. 5, 1791 at the age of 35.
“Mozart wrote the Requiem while he was dying. Well, there
were people in those buildings (in New York) talking on their cell
phones as they were collapsing. People heard people die and the
sounds of death. I think Mozart brought that out,” said Jay
Dillon, a bass singer who also points out, contrary to the image of
death and gloom, “A Requiem is a celebration of
life.”
To balance the gravity and sorrow of the Requiem,
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will be performed second as a call
for peace and joy throughout the world.
“You have the Requiem which is laying down to rest the
things that have happened and the Ninth Symphony which is about
rising up and moving on,” said Ross Andrus, a bass
singer.
While artistic greatness is certainly an aim of the concert, the
important thing is that people come away with a sense of optimism
and comfort.
“It doesn’t really matter if you come with your
family because these pieces are going to turn everyone into a
family,” said Dillon. “As a performer, it’s just
as incredible and amazing as being a listener. It’s not
happening anywhere else in the world except for Royce
Hall.”