WINGATE: REQUIEM NO. 2
for Contralto and Violoncello

(THIS PROJECT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)

Text:
The Latin Mass for the Dead

Notes:
Inspired by Susan Bickley’s exquisite 1987 recording of Arvo Pärt’s motet Es sang vor langen Jahren (for alto, violin and viola), Wingate became convinced that an entire Requiem could abide in the richness of a single contralto voice with a solo cello accompaniment. The first sketches were made in 1987, but abandoned until 2001, when the composer made yet more sketches in response to the 9/11 attacks while living in New York City. The piece was then abandoned again until the 2020 pandemic, when more sketches materialized in response to the melancholic global mood. 
 
Having been reminded at some point during this long gestation period of Mauricio Kagel’s 1971 solo cello étude called «SIEGFRIEDP’» (written for the great champion of 20th century cello technique Siegfried Palm, which requires the cellist to sing along with the cello music being played), the composer realized that his Requiem could be designed to be performed by a single (and necessarily very ambitious) musician — a cellist/contralto or cellist/countertenor (with himself in mind as the latter) — but also wanted the piece to be performable by the customary two musicians, adding to the interesting duet repertoire for voice and cello.