Festival Ljubljana bo na 8. Zimskem festivalu izvedel Brittnov Vojni rekviem

Festival Ljubljana pripravlja že svoj osmi Zimski festival, ki običajno poteka ob koncu februarja in na začetku marca. Otvoritev 8. Zimskega festivala bo 20. in 21. februarja 2025 ter bo zaznamovana z monumentalnim delom za mešani zbor, zbor dečkov, tri soliste in simfonični orkester, Vojni rekviem, angleškega skladatelja Benjamina Brittna.

Charles Dutoit in Slovenska filharmonija, foto Festival Ljubljana/Darja Štravs Tisu

To delo velja za eno najmočnejših in čustveno nabitih glasbenih stvaritev 20. stoletja. Nastalo je za otvoritveno ceremonijo nove katedrale v Coventryju, ki je nadomestila zgradbo iz 14. stoletja, uničeno med drugo svetovno vojno.

Glasbeni posnetek s fotografijo porušene cerkve

Britten v Vojnem rekviemu prepleta latinsko mašo za umrle s posvetno liriko angleškega poveljnika Wilfreda Owena, ki slikovito upodablja grozote vojne. S tem delom, kot zaprisežen pacifist, ustvarja pomembno protivojno sporočilo, ki ostaja aktualno tudi danes, ko svet še vedno pretresajo vojne vihre.

Naslovnica posnetka

Za vrhunsko izvedbo v Gallusovi dvorani Cankarjevega doma bo poskrbel Orkester Slovenske filharmonije pod vodstvom legendarnega maestra Charlesa Dutoita. Med solisti se bodo predstavili sopranistka Nadežda Pavlova, tenorist Ian Bostridge ter baritonist Matthias Goerne, vsi trije mednarodno znani pevci, še posebej na koncertnih odrih ter pevskih recitalih. Ian Bostridge je nekoč že gostoval na večeru samospevov v Slovenski filharmoniji. Leta 2009 je pel pesmi Schuberta in Schumanna.

Zgodovinski posnetek

Zboru Slovenske filharmonije se bosta pridružila Državni zbor iz Kaunasa in znameniti Zbor dunajskih dečkov.

(Spomladi je bil razpis in vabilo za Deški zbor Glasbene matice, za fante v obdobju pred mutacijo, stare najmanj osem let, za udeležbo pri izvedbi, a ni uspel, Dunajski dečki pa bodo z veseljem prišli v Ljubljano, kot je na zadnji tiskovni konferenci omenil direktor in umetniški vodja Festivala Ljubljana Darko Brlek.

Program:

Benjamin Britten: Vojni rekviem, op. 66
(20. in 21. februar, Cankarjev dom, ob 18. uri)

Charles Dutoit

Naslovnica za London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1963. Prvi natis. Plakat. Programske opombe za ‘The War Requiem, op. 66,” redka antikvarna objava

Benjamin Britten je svoj Vojni rekviem zložil v letih 1961-1962 in je bil izveden za posvetitev nove katedrale v Coventryju, ki je bila ponovno zgrajena po bombardiranju prvotne katedrale v drugi svetovni vojni. Programska opomba, ki jo je napisal Alec Robertson, ugotavlja, da je Britten premešal latinščino iz maše za mrtve z devetimi vojnimi pesmimi Wilfreda Owena. Owen je bil pesnik in vojak prve svetovne vojne, ki je umrl leta 1918 pri komaj 25 letih.

Zborovski part v objavi 

Struktura Vojnega rekviema: vokal

V Vojnem rekviemu se prepleta kombinacija maše za mrtve in Owenove poezije,  odigrana oziroma izvedene na treh ravneh. Dva vojaka, tenor in baritonist, pojeta Owenove pesmi ob spremljavi komornega orkestra 12 inštrumentov, ki predstavljajo izkušnje posameznikov, ujetih v konflikt. Sopranistka, veliki zbor in celoten orkester predstavljajo formalno žalost in so omejeni na “uradno”, liturgično besedilo uveljavljene vere. Eterični zvok otroških glasov in komornih orgel, katerih nedolžna, čista zvočnost jih loči od tragične človeške izkušnje.

Ruševine katedrale

Owen je bil ubit v akciji 4. novembra 1918 med prečkanjem kanala Sambre–Oise, natanko en teden (skoraj do ure natančno) pred podpisom premirja, ki je končalo vojno, dan po svoji smrti pa je bil povišan v čin poročnika. Njegova mati je prejela telegram z obvestilom o sinovi smrti na dan premirja, ko so cerkveni zvonovi v Shrewsburyju zvonili v znamenju praznovanja. Owen je pokopan na pokopališču Ors Communal v Orsu v severni Franciji. Napis na njegovem nagrobniku, ki ga je izbrala njegova mati Susan, je citat iz njegove poezije: “SHALL LIFE RENEW THESE BODIES? OF A TRUTH ALL DEATH WILL HE ANNUL.” W.O.

Pesnikov grob

Poezija Williama Butlerja Yeatsa je močno vplivala na Owena, vendar pa Yeats ni delil Owenovega občudovanja in ga je izključil iz The Oxford Book of Modern Verse. To svojo odločitev odločitev je Yeats kasneje zagovarjal, rekoč, da je bil Owen “poln krvi, umazanije in zanič sladkorja” in “nevreden pesniškega kotička deželnega časopisa”. Yeats je pojasnil: “V vseh velikih tragedijah je tragedija veselje za človeka, ki umre … Če je vojna v našem času in prostoru potrebna, je najbolje, da pozabimo na njeno trpljenje, kot pozabimo na nelagodje vročice …” (Iz Poets of World War I: Wilfred Owen in Isaac Rosenberg, 2002).

Struktura Vojnega rekviema

Znotraj trinivojskega okvira Britten raziskuje in izkorišča inherentna nasprotja in ironijo, pri čemer pogosto uporablja Owenovo poezijo za spodkopavanje ortodoksnih čustev, izraženih v latinskem besedilu. To je močno prikazano v Offertoriumu s sopostavitvijo “Quam olim Abrahae promisisti” in Owenove prispodobe o starem in mladem.

Brittenov samocitat iz njegovega Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac (1952), prizorišča srednjeveške misterijske igre na isto svetopisemsko zgodbo, prispeva k bogastvu ironije. V svetopisemski zgodbi Abraham sledi božjemu ukazu in prizanese svojemu sinu Izaku, v Owenovi pesmi pa ubije Izaka in, kot pravi Owen, “polovico semena Evrope, enega za drugim”.

Struktura Vojnega rekviema: glasba

Glasbeni jezik Vojnega rekiema je razmeroma preprost – Britten je bil navsezadnje privlačen za množično občinstvo –, a se hkrati izogiba zgolj vsakdanjemu ali banalnemu. Glasbena struktura je hkrati ekonomična in prefinjena, z lahko prepoznavno motiviko in neposredno orkestracijo. V nasprotju z latinsko mašo so Owenove nastavitve tako glasbeno sofisticirane kot vse, kar najdemo v Brittenovih orkestrskih ciklih pesmi ali komornih operah, in jih je mogoče obravnavati kot cikel pesmi, vpet v mašni ritual. Vsekakor je bil skladatelj navdihnjen in je bila skladba njegova zelo osebna ideja. Nenavadna ironija v Vojnem rekviemu ostaja, da zamisel o počitku spremlja tritonus (C–Fis), ki se sliši na zvonovih na začetku Requiem aeternam (Večni pokoj, daj jim, o Gospod). Od srednjega veka je ta glasbeni interval znan kot diabolus in musica (hudič v glasbi). Britten vseskozi izkorišča njegove zunajglasbene asociacije in edinstveno motečo tonsko dvoumnost. Edina priložnost, ko je napetost v intervalu popolnoma razrešena, se zgodi ob koncu srhljivo lepega Agnus Dei (Jagnje Božje). To je trenutek resnice v kompoziciji. Owenova At a Calvary near the Ancre in latinske besede Agnus Dei tečejo sočasno, končajo pa se s tenorjevim vzhajajočim stavkom, v katerem je izražena najbolj eksplicitna prošnja za mir v celotnem delu: Dona nobis pacem. To, da se ob koncu Vojnega rekviema lahko počutimo nelagodno, je posledica ponovnega pojava votlega tritonusa, ki ga spet intonirajo zvonovi. Kot je pripomnil Peter Pears, Brittnov partner in glavni solist tenorist: “To ni konec, nismo pobegnili, še vedno moramo razmišljati o tem, ne smemo končati v mirnih sanjah.” Streznitvena in vznemirljiva misel v svetu, ki še vedno potrebuje svoje vojne rekvieme in naše pesnike, da nas svarijo, je morda zaključno občutje ali sporočilo.

Ruševine

Izvedba Vojnega rekviema traja skoraj poldrugo uro.

Uradno besedilo v izvirniku

I. REQUIEM AETERNAM

Zbor

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion:
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem;
exaudi orationem meam,
ad te omnis caro veniet.

Zbor

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Tenor

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, —
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them at all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Zbor

Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison

II. DIES IRAE

Zbor

Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.

Bariton

Bugles sang, saddening the evening air;
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.
Voices of boys were by the river-side.
Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.
The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.
Voices of old despondency resigned,
Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.

Sopran

Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit
Quidquid latet, apparebut:
Nil inultum remanebit.

Zbor

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronem rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?

Sopran in zbor 

Rex tremendae majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.

Tenor in bariton

Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death:
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland,-
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath,-
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn’t writhe.
He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.
Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier’s paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death – for Life; not men – for flags.

Zbor

Recordare Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Quarens me, sedisti lassus:
Redemisti crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus:
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Inter oves locum praesta,
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis
Cor contritum quasi cinis
Gere curam mei finis.

Bariton

Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great gun towering toward Heaven, about to curse;
Reach at that arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse;
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!

Zbor

Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Sopran in zbor

Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus:
Huic ergo parce Deus.

Tenor

Move him into the sun –
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Sopran in zbor 

Lacrimosa dies illa…

Tenor

Think how it wakes the seeds –
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-acheived, are sides,
Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?

Sopran in zbor 

…Qua resurget ex favilla…

Tenor

Was it for this the clay grew tall?

Sopran in zbor

…Judicandus homo reus.

Tenor

– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?

Zbor

Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.
Amen.

III. OFFERTORIUM

Dečki

Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni,
et de profundo lacu:
libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas
tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.

Zbor

Sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam:
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.

Tenor in baritone

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenched there,
And streched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! and angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so,
but slew his son, –
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Dečki

Hostias et preced tibi Domine
laudis offerimus; tu suscipe pro
animabus illis, quarum hodie
memoriam facimus: fac eas, Domine,
de morte transire ad vitam.
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
en semini ejus.

Zbor

…Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
et semini ejus.

IV. SANCTUS

Sopran in zbor

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
Dominus Deus Saboath.
Pleni sunt ceoli et terra gloria tua,
Hosanna in excelsis.
Sanctus.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Sanctus.

Bariton

After the blast of lighning from the East,
The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot Throne;
After the drums of time have rolled and ceased,
And by the bronze west long retreat is blown,
Shall life renew these bodies? Of a truth
All death will He annul, all tears assuage? –
Fill the void veins of Life again with youth,
And wash, with an immortal water, Age?
When I do ask white Age he saith not so:
“My head hangs weighed with snow.”
And when I hearken to the Earth, she saith:
“My fiery heart shrinks, aching. It is death.
Mine ancient scars shalls not be glorified,
Nor my titanic tears, the sea, be dried.”

V. AGNUS DEI

Tenor

One ever hangs where shelled roads part.
In this war He too lost a limb,
But His disciples hide apart;
And now the Soldiers bear with Him.

Zbor

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.

Tenor

Near Golgatha strolls many a priest,
And in their faces there is pride
That they were flesh-marked by the Beast
By whom the gentle Christ’s denied.

Zbor

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.

Tenor

The scribes on all the people shove
and bawl allegiance to the state,

Zbor

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi…

Tenor

But they who love the greater love
Lay down their life; they do not hate.

Zbor

…Dona eis requiem.

Tenor

Dona nobis pacem.

VI. LIBERA ME

Zbor

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda:
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra:
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.

Sopran in zbor 

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo
dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna.
Quando coeli movendi sunt i terra.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis
et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde.
Libera me, Domine.

Tenor

It seems that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
“Strange friend,” I said, “here is no cause to mourn.”

Bariton

“None”, said the other, “save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
Or, discontent, boil boldly, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress,
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Miss we the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even from wells we sunk too deep for war,
Even from the sweetest wells that ever were.
I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark; for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now…”

Dečki, zbor, sopran

In paridisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam
Jerusalem. Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam
habeas requiem.

Dečki

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Zbor

In paradisum deducant etc.

Sopran

Chorus Angeloru, te suscipiat etc.

Tenor in bariton

Let us sleep now.

Zbor

Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Churchill v Coventryju

Marijan Zlobec