SEAFARERS' REQUIEM
A loving tribute to those lost at sea as well as those left behind.
Written by Mary Knickle
Music by Mary Knickle
Conductor: Wayne Rogers
Accompanist: Erin Donovan
Flutist: Ann Schmechel
Soloists: Paula Philips, Nina Scott-Stoddart, John Ernst,
Elijah Ernst, Hannah Ernst and Olivia Dakin.
Chorus: various singers from the South Shore
Story tellers: Janet Mason and Tom Gallant.
The Seafarer’s Requiem is a powerful dedication to all lost mariners and their families. It is the first requiem of its kind and through music and narrative relates this dramatic and poignant part of our Maritime heritage.
The Seafarer’s Requiem is compellingly presented combining the Latin Mass with rich choral arrangements of Celtic and classical influence. Traditional and haunting poems such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar is written as a sea song for the men’s chorus. The Agnus Dei is written as a round for the women’s chorus where you can hear the chiming of bells. Bells are a theme throughout the The Seafarer’s Requiem, either lofty church bells, haunting buoy bells or lingering ship’s bells.
The solos are sometimes Celtic in feel, sometimes art song. The introit is a combination of the poem My Boy Jack by Rudyard Kipling (where a mother is asking about her son at sea) the Latin mass, a mixture of classical and folk, choral and solo. Adieu by Theodore Goodrich Roberts is written as a haunting farewell. Gluing both solos and choral pieces together are moving and profound stories about seafarers that have survived, those who were lost and those left behind and are taken from local museum archives as well as documentaries.
The Seafarer’s Requiem is dramatic, thoughtful and in the end hopeful. It is a magnificent tribute to both our history and legacy in this maritime landscape. It is a universal anthem for anyone who lives with the immense beauty, power and tragedy of the sea.
Mary Knickle comes from a family of Lunenburg founders, fisherman and seafarers. Her family tradition was music and story telling. She studied music at Acadia University and is an accomplished performer and composer. Mary lives with her family in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
The Seafarers' Requiem honours those lost at sea as well as those left behind.
PAST PERFORMANCES
February 8th, 2014 at Central United Church in Lunenburg
February 9th at St. Matthews Church in Halifax
September