Antonio Salieri’s ‘Requiem’

A performance of Salieri’s Requiem will be given by The Cantus Choir, accompanied on the organ by Thomas Keogh on Sunday 13 April, 4.00 – 5.00 pm in St. Mary’s Church, Ketton.  The performance will be preceded by a short talk given by the choir’s director Alwyn Pollard. 

This year sees the 200th anniversary of Antonio Salieri’s death.  Many people have only heard of Salieri through watching the 1984 film ‘Amadeus’, where Salieri is wrongly portrayed as the person who, through jealously, poisoned Mozart.  Salieri was a very competent composer composing over 650 works, including 37 operas, for which he is largely known.

His Requiem was composed in 1804, the same year he wrote his final opera.  He asked that it should not be performed until after his death and indeed the first performance was in1825 at Salieri’s funeral.  It is a melodic work and quite dramatic in places.  It deserves to be heard more than it is.

Admission to the concert is free with a retiring collection being made in aid of church funds and local charities.