Requiem for 9/11, the elegiac work composed by Wilson Gault Somers, evokes the initial despair and ultimate hope that many Americans felt in the aftermath of the tragedy, a transition compressed into less than 60 minutes.
The composition honoring the triumph of the human spirit, which debuts Nov. 25 at the Grand Opera House, was more than 10 years in the making and brings together a chamber orchestra, five solo singers, and the New Ark Chorale.
“I have had these notes in my head for years,” said Somers, a school choirmaster, church music director and jazz pianist. “Now that I am hearing the music, it is exactly as I imagined it to be.”
Requiem pays homage to the traditional Mass form, including ancient Latin, and draws inspiration from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The composer views the work as a message of tolerance and hope in an uncertain and vulnerable world.
Perfecting a Performance
On a recent Sunday night, soloists and musicians come together to rehearse the piece in the soaring sanctuary of St. Helena’s Roman Catholic Church on Philadelphia Pike. Candles flicker beside a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The soulful tones of an oboe conjure an image of a nation in mourning after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The crystalline call of a flute evokes hope. Sophisticated vocal harmonies swerve from holy to haunting and back again, a challenging task for vocalists.
After running through a passage, Somers flicks his baton, adjusts his glasses and addresses the singers.
“You know I love you all,” he said. “And you know you weren’t in tune through the entire middle section.”
The singers nod and take a breath. Rehearsal resumes.
It is one of only two rehearsals many of the artists will have before the entire ensemble gathers for a dress rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, a few scant hours before the 7 p.m. performance.
“Then we all come together and give it our very best -- and hopefully the audience will respond the way we think they will,” Somers said.
Making Hard Times Work
Courtney Ames and Brian Carter, professional vocalists from South Jersey, have come from their home in Lindenwold to perform in Requiem. Like Somers, they are part of a network of artists who stitch together creative opportunities.
“We go where the jobs are,” said Ames, a soprano. “With this job, it’s good to have a gig where you can sleep at home at night.”
With arts funding scarce, it isn’t unusual for singers and musicians to rehearse together only a few times before a performance. That is why it is especially important for artists to be prepared ahead of time, practicing for hours on their own.
“Opera requires more rehearsal because there is blocking and staging,” said Carter, a baritone. “For a concert, two or three rehearsals are all you can ask for.”
This year, Delaware Symphony Orchestra has dramatically pared back its season due to financial troubles. Somers had to draw heavily on his considerable connections in the arts community to bring Requiem to the concert stage. Joe Lowden, organist and musical director at St. Helena’s, helped secure the evening’s rehearsal space. Lowden is also performing in Requiem.
In addition to paid musicians and soloists, Somers is relying on talented and enthusiastic volunteers who make up about half of the 42-voice chorus.
“I am blessed to know so many gifted people through my work and many of them are generously donating their creative spirits to this work,” he said.
Milestones in Somers’ Career
The harmonies in Requiem are complex. But Ames and Carter say they like what they hear.
“He (Somers) has a gift for composing beautiful melody,” Ames said.
In the weeks following 9/11, Somers put down his baton. The singers he teaches, shocked and grieving, did not have the heart to lift their voices.
But then Somers began composing again, trying to capture the nation’s anguish and eventual healing in his music.
As an artist, Somers’ career is a medley. Since 1990, he has been choral music director at the Tatnall School in Greenville. He is music director and organist at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Kennett Square. For 20 years, he moonlighted as a jazz pianist, first at the Rodney Square Club, which closed in the 1990s, and at University & Whist Club, a private fine dining club in Wilmington’s Cool Spring neighborhood.
Somers composed the soundtracks for three documentary films on local artists, produced in cooperation with the Delaware Art Museum and broadcast regionally on PBS. His original jazz score for Edward L. Loper: Prophet of Color earned Somers an Emmy Award.
In 1997, his first major work, Mass for the Homeless, premiered at the Grand and was performed by the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. His wife Joan co-wrote the libretto. Requiem is produced by Mass for the Homeless, Inc., a not-for-profit organization the couple founded with other music lovers.
Somers’ primary influences as a musician are the late Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck, who is now in his 90s. Brubeck and Somers have corresponded for years.
“He hasn’t been well these days, but he is a constant source of inspiration,” Somers said
Requiem for 9/11 Premieres Nov. 25
So far, only one performance of Requiem is planned. But the composer is hopeful that it will be presented again in the future. Mass for the Homeless was performed a second time in 1999, and has raised about $40,000 to help people in shelters.
The first half of the Requiem will feature classic American pieces sung by the New Ark Chorale, conducted by founder Michael Larkin, who chairs the vocal department at the Music School of Delaware in Wilmington. The program also includes a song that will be familiar to listeners. The composer will turn to the audience and invite guests to sing America the Beautiful.
“It’s a song everyone knows, a song that unites Americans,” Somers says.
Requiem for 9/11 will premier on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Grand Opera House, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington. For tickets, call (302) 652-5577 or go to the Grand Opera House website. All seats are priced at $25, plus processing fee. Proceeds will benefit the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the memory of the courageous passengers who fought to retake their hijacked plane on Sept. 11, 2001 before it was crashed by terrorists.
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the national Endowment for the Arts.
