December has already passed its 3 out of 1 mark. As every year, it has flown by, and it was another year that I somehow managed to get through thanks to the help of many people.
It has been 5 years since I began making YouTube cards for my year-end and New Year greetings. This year’s piece is “Pie Jesu” from Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem.
“Pie Jesu” means “merciful Jesus.” The lyrics are extremely short:
| Pie Jesu Domine, | Merciful Lord Jesus, |
| dona eis requiem, | grant them rest, |
| sempiternam requiem. | everlasting rest. |
and these words are repeated.
For many people today, “Pie Jesu” may bring to mind Andrew Lloyd Webber’s setting1. That too is a very beautiful work. Yet Saint-Saëns wrote to Fauré, “Your ‘Pie Jesu’ is the only ‘Pie Jesu,’ just as Mozart’s ‘Ave Verum’ is the only ‘Ave Verum’”2. As those words suggest, for me this is still the “Pie Jesu.”
Incidentally, I will also include here my earlier recording of “Ave Verum.”
And so,
Happy Holidays!
Footnotes
- from his Requiem (1985), where it is the 1 piece. Personally, I think Fauré’s influence is conspicuous.
- (Source) Masahide Kanzaki, “Fauré: The Words and Music of the Requiem” https://www.kanzaki.com/music/ecrit/faure-requiem.html. Incidentally, this page is extremely informative, and I strongly recommend reading it.
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