REQUIEM – Ingemisco Giuseppe Verdi, arr. for string quartet by Lucian Moraru

REQUIEM – Ingemisco

Giuseppe Verdi, arr. for string quartet by Lucian Moraru

SonArt Edition 2019

by Helen Tuckey

The original Verdi Requiem is the antithesis of a chamber work. There is another earlier arrangement of the well-known Ingemisco (from the Dies Irae) for viola and piano, so this work has been of interest to Moraru for some time. He has written in a musically substantive way for every instrument, with soaring melodic lines, warm chordal passages, here and there a flourish of triplets bristling with accidentals. Orchestral techniques like tremolo work differently in a chamber setting. Choosing the right acoustic environment is essential, and there is an interesting YouTube performance of (almost) this arrangement in a boomy stone church, with pan pipes and a double bass added to the score. A challenging but playable score which will keep everyone on their toes!

Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa2qYgAeBgU

All of the works above could be played by professional or advanced student quartets, and would be possible in a number of community concert settings as well as interesting additions to the standard string quartet concert.

Stringendo (Australian Strings Association’s magazine) - October, 2022