Cherubini: Requiem in C minor

Written in 1815 as a memorial to King Louis XVI for the twenty-third anniversary of his execution, Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor was held in far greater esteem by his contemporaries as its relative obscurity today might suggest. Indeed, Brahms, Schumann and Beethoven were known to be admirers, the latter commenting that had he written a requiem himself, it would have been closely modelled on Cherubini’s. Even Berlioz, whose personal distaste for his elder is starkly revealed in the sarcastic put-downs of Cherubini strewn throughout his memoirs, held the Requiem in high regard, lauding the work for its “abundance of ideas, fullness of form and sublimity of style” and according considerable praise to the work’s unusual ending, commenting that it “surpasses anything of the kind that has been written”.

The South West London Choral Society, under the baton of conductor Martin Everett, will be bringing this unjustly neglected work to back to life in the beautiful setting of St. Anne’s Church, Wandsworth, accompanied by the Otranto Chamber Orchestra. All are welcome to attend, particularly younger fans of classical music, as under-15s are admitted free of charge.