Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, Rice’s Shepherd School of Music honored the anniversary the way it has every year since 2002: by pausing to sing. The Rice Chorale performed “In Memoriam: 9/11/2001” at the Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall at Alice Pratt Brown Hall. Thomas Jaber, professor of music, director of choral ensembles and vocal coach, conducted Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, Op. 9, joined by organist Katherine Jolliff, professor of cello Norman Fischer, baritone Alan Saldaña-Silva and soprano Margaret Ann Zentner.
The hall was filled to capacity, with the remainder of the overflowing crowd watching from a broadcast in the lobby. Audiences were welcomed to the annual performance by former Rice President David Leebron as he recollected the lessons he learned that fateful day.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “This is a day for unity rather than division. On 9/11, we saw Americans come together in compassion.”
Completed in 1947 in memory of his father, Duruflé’s Requiem utilizes the Gregorian themes found in the Mass for the dead, reconciling their harmonies, rhythms and modes with his own contemporary musical language.
In program notes written by Duruflé, the composer said, “This Requiem is not an ethereal work which sings of detachment from earthly worries. It reflects, in the immutable form of the Christian prayer, the agony of man faced with the mystery of his ultimate end. It is often dramatic, or filled with resignation, or hope or terror, just as the words of the Scripture themselves are used in the liturgy. It tends to translate human feelings before their terrifying, unexplainable or consoling destiny.”
The piece served as a prime selection for Jaber, the Rice Chorale and the concert hall.
“I chose the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé because I love it, and it is a great teaching piece,” Jaber said. “Also, Rice University has one of the great instruments to play such music here in our wonderful organ hall. The acoustical environment is that of a European cathedral.”
The observance, first started in 2002 with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem, has grown to encompass all those lost to violence or natural causes. It also serves as a designated time to imagine moving beyond previous tragedies and to a more hopeful future.
“We also stop to think of one another and what a world of peace might be,” Jaber said. “We truly look forward to that day. And we are grateful for the beautiful music that helps our spirits along the way.”
As one of the oldest ensembles on campus, the Rice Chorale brings together music and voice majors alongside talented singers from across the university and greater Houston community. Members of the Saint Anne Catholic Church Choir and Saint Luke’s United Methodist Church Chancel Choir joined the Rice Chorale for this year’s performance.