The Schiller Institute Presents

A Tribute to John F. Kennedy
and
Recommitment to the
Principles of His Presidency

W.A. MOZART · REQUIEM

January 19, 2014
Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Boston, Massachusetts

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Program

Welcome

Opening Remarks

Greetings

Requiem in D-minor, K.626

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)

Introitus—Requiem aeternam

Kyrie eleison

Sequentia

Dies irae

Tuba mirum

Rex tremendae

Recordare

Confutatis

Lacrymosa

*Interlude with highlights of speeches by President Kennedy*

Offertorium

Domine Jesu Christe

Hostias et preces

*Interlude with highlights of speeches by President Kennedy*

Sanctus

Sanctus

Benedictus

Agnus Dei

Lux aeterna

Please join us for a reception following the concert.
* Please remain seated during the Interludes*

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From the Chairwoman

In his “World Fifty-Year Plan,” Kennedy wrote: “If one-half the amounts spent for world armaments were diverted, we could in one year build a schoolhouse in every community in the world needing one. In another year we could build all the highways and railways needed in all the countries in the world. In another year we could build all the dams and waterways to make the world’s deserts bloom and become fruitful. With a fraction of one year’s expenditures we could finance a forced draft program to produce teachers, doctors, hospitals, scientists and all the skilled technicians needed to operate the new world.

“Why is this not done? Why does mankind sentence itself to the miseries of this world when it has the power to create a new and better world?”

And in his speech in front of the United Nations on September 20, 1963 he expressed the same idea:

“Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world—or to make it the last.”

With the un-atoned assassination of John F. Kennedy, we have been robbed of that vision of a world worthy of the dignity of man. We are performing Mozart’s Requiem with the solemn commitment to work to fulfill his dream and return the world to the path of progress. And from the combination of the beauty of Mozart’s music and the profound belief in mankind of Kennedy we will work to make this generation the most able one in human history.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Founder of the Schiller Institute

The Schiller Institute

The Schiller Institute was founded in 1984 on the initiative of Helga Zepp-LaRouche, wife of the American statesman and physical economist Lyndon LaRouche, for the purpose of reviving the paradigm of Classical culture and reasserting the right of all humanity to material, moral, and intellectual progress. It is named after Friedrich Schiller, the “Poet of Freedom” whose “Ode to Joy” is immortalized by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony. For more on the Schiller Institute’s worldwide campaign to lower the standard tuning pitch to A=432 Hz, see “The Dilemma of Tuning Pitch”

For more information, see: www.schillerinstitute.org & newparadigm.schillerinstitute.com

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Greetings

Michael D. Higgins, President of the Republic of Ireland, extends his best wishes for the memorial concert of the martyred son of Ireland, U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Michael D. Higgins, President of the Republic of Ireland
January 11, 2014

The day of the memorial mass at Holy Cross Cathedral was somber, to say the least, and Maestro Leinsdorf’s comment before the quick tempo run-through was that he chose Mozart’s Requiem because both men were “young” at death, and for that reason appropriate for the occasion. Cardinal Cushing was the officiate, aided by the Brother Monks singing Gregorian Chant after which each appropriate chant the Boston Symphony, large choral group and we soloists, Sara Mae Endich, Eunice Alberts, Mac Morgon, and I sang Mozart’s corresponding part of the Mass.

The most telling moment for me was during the soloists’ Benedictus section, which came during the communion distribution at the altar rail. The Kennedy family and close relatives, as well as close friends, came to the altar to receive communion. Jacqueline Kennedy came to the altar and knelt no more than nine feet in front of me. To me the “Benedictus” is the most beautiful and most moving part of Mozart’s mass and a joy to sing under ordinary circumstances. Seeing her kneeling in prayer and seeing mascara streaming down her cheeks during the “Benedictus” struck me with such a strong emotional bolt that I had no recollection of having sung.

The Cathedral was filled to capacity by an invited congregation; the only member absent was Robert Kennedy, who was in the Far East.

Congratulations to all of you in remembering this occasion in this very appropriate way.

My best wishes to you and all pertaining to this project.

Nicholas Di Virgilio, tenor soloist in the January 19, 1964 performance
January 5, 2014

Members of the Schiller Institute and Guests,

It is with deepest sincerity that I thank you for organizing a tribute to President John F. Kennedy through the performance of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor on this fiftieth anniversary of the pontifical mass held in the aftermath of President Kennedy’s assassination.

John F. Kennedy’s time in office saw the American people through challenges and triumphs that highlighted the fortitude and imagination of our people. The circumstances of our lives may have changed, but the ideals President Kennedy instilled in our nation still apply. It is vital that we recognize our roles and responsibilities as citizens, that protect and promote the rights of any one who desires to be free. When we rise up as individuals, we become one nation, strong and inspiring.

I have no doubt that the memory of John F. Kennedy will be truly honored by this performance and it is my sincere hope that those in attendance leave with the desire to recommit to the values that lead this great nation during a time of progress and achievement.

Sincerely,
Stephen J. Murphy, Boston City Councilor at-Large

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January 19, 1964

“The genius of art and the genius of leadership are joined together in this single event.”
—Richard Cardinal Cushing

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross, filled to capacity on January 19, 1964. The chorus and orchestra appear on an elevated platform just below the large stained glass window.
Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Fifty years ago in this cathedral, on January 19th, 1964, Boston honored her fallen son, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final composition, the Requiem in D Minor. Holy Cross was filled to capacity with 1,800 people attending, including Jacqueline Kennedy and other members of the family, while 3,000 more gathered outside unable to get in. Millions of other Americans watched the performance live on a nationwide television broadcast.

The performance took place as part of a Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by Richard Cardinal Cushing—the first time in the United States that Mozart’s Requiem was performed as part of the liturgy. Cardinal Cushing, who had also presided at the state funeral of Kennedy at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington only eight weeks prior, had been a close personal friend to both John and Jacqueline Kennedy, officiating at their wedding in 1953, baptizing their daughter Caroline, and burying their infant son Patrick.

At the conclusion of the Mass, Cardinal Cushing offered a short eulogy for President Kennedy, saying: “He and his dear Jacqueline enriched the White House with the best in art and culture and in music... No tribute, therefore, my dearly beloved, to our departed President and his charming wife could be more fitting than the spiritual, artistic and liturgical service of this morning… No one will fail to note also the appropriateness of selecting Mozart’s Requiem, sung by outstanding choral groups and accompanied by the world-famous Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its able conductor, for America’s martyred President. The genius of art and the genius of leadership are joined together in this single event. Separated by centuries, they were both touched by a creative instinct uncommon in any generation; both brought out of their youth a shining light which will illumine the ages; both were summoned to eternity at a moment which to us mortals certainly seems untimely.” (See page 20 for the text of Cardinal Cushing’s remarks.)

Jacqueline Kennedy and other members of Kennedy family attend the
Requiem on January 19th, 1964 at Boston’s Holy Cross Cathedral

Maestro Leinsdorf conducts the performers from the platform on the right.
Jacqueline Kennedy can be seen kneeling in the front row.

Following his remarks, Cardinal Cushing quietly descended from the altar to share a few private words with Jacqueline Kennedy, after which he escorted her from her pew to the chorus and the orchestra so that she could thank them and shake the conductor’s hand.

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Maestro Erich Leinsdorf, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, directed the Boston Symphony along with a combined chorus of 180 singers from the Chorus pro Musica, the New England Conservatory, the Harvard Glee Club and the Radcliff Choral Society. The four soloists chosen for the occasion were Sara Mae Endich, soprano; Eunice Alberts, contralto; Nicholas Di Virgilio, tenor; and Mac Morgon, bass-baritone. (See page 3 of this program for special greetings from Nicholas Di Virglio.)

Fifty years later, we gather again to celebrate the memory of that sublime occasion by filling these hallowed walls with the music of Mozart, as we rededicate ourselves, in spirit and in mind, to the vision of John F. Kennedy.

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”
—February 8, 1963


Jacqueline Kennedy speaks with Cardinal Cushing following the Requiem performance and Mass.		Members of the Kennedy family with Richard Cardinal Cushing following the Requiem performance on January 19, 1964 Above/Left Credits: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

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The New Frontier

“Here’s a man who wants to leave a record of not only having helped his countrymen, but humanity as a whole.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor_Roosevelt_and_John_F._Kennedy_in_New_York_02.jpg

John Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt in New York, October 11, 1960. Credit: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

The Trumpet Summons Us Again

“Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty...Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce. Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah to ‘undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free.’... Now the trumpet summons us again—a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” —Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

These words from Kennedy’s inaugural defined his presidency—a struggle to liberate mankind from the ancient evils of war, poverty, slavery, and disease—an effort which earned him the martyrdom that had befallen other great Presidents before him, and a story as old as the persecution of Prometheus at the hands of the ancient tyrant Zeus. As we recommit ourselves to the struggle which John F. Kennedy summoned us to half a century ago, as we seek to “overcome evil with the good”, let us rediscover the vision which he possessed of the New Frontiers which must be conquered, in the common interest of all mankind.

The New Frontier

“I stand tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that stretch three thousand miles behind me, the pioneers of old gave up their safety, their comfort and sometimes their lives to build a new world here in the West. They were not the captives of their own doubts, the prisoners of their own price tags. Their motto was not ‘every man for himself’—but ‘all for the common cause.’ … We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier—a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils—a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats... Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus... I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier.”
—Acceptance of Democratic Nomination, July 15, 1960

Since John Winthrop first established the “City Upon a Hill” in Boston, our nation’s pioneers conquered the land, harnessed the rivers, cultivated the soil, and explored the unknown. In the fifty years before Kennedy, the population of the United States doubled. Based on that trend, John Kennedy projected that the U.S. population would reach 350 million by the year 2000. Tragically, in 2000, we were 70 million people short. Projects which he launched were
never brought to fruition, commitments he made have long since been neglected, challenges which he inspired have been left undone. Here is the vision that Kennedy possessed:

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Speaking at the Dedication of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Dam project in Pueblo, Colorado, 1962
Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

“Let Us Explore The Stars”

“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth... Secondly, an additional 23 million dollars, together with 7 million dollars already available, will accelerate development of the Rover nuclear rocket. This gives promise of some day providing a means for even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space, perhaps beyond the moon, perhaps to the very end of the solar system itself.”
—Special Address to Congress, May 25, 1961

The nuclear rocket program, to carry man into the depths of our solar system, was slated to become operational by the mid-1970s. Kennedy visited the Nuclear Rocket Development Station in December 1962, to publicly display his support for the program. As Kennedy emphasized, with a commitment to both chemical propulsion and nuclear propulsion simultaneously, the lunar landing would be only a beginning, with a Mars trip scheduled by the end of the following decade, and a permanent lunar base by the 1980s.

“Let Us Conquer The Deserts”

“...Today is an important step towards the achievement of one of man’s oldest dreams: securing fresh water from salt water... I can think of no cause and no work which is more important, not only to the people of this country but to people all around the globe, especially those who live in deserts or on the edge of oceans... I’m sure that before this decade is out, we will see more and more evidence of man’s ability at an economic rate to secure fresh water from salt water, and when that day comes then we will literally see the deserts bloom.” —Activation of Freeport Saline Conversion Plant, June 21, 1961

In January 1963, Kennedy established a task force to investigate the use of large nuclear reactors to be used for sea water conversion. Their findings would show that complexes of these nuclear desalination plants would be able to convert enough fresh water to provide for the total water needs of even the largest city in the United States, ending water scarcity forever. This nuclear desalination program was but one facet of a total commitment to civilian nuclear power, breeder reactor technology, mining the oceans for fusion fuel, and peaceful use of the atom for construction and excavation.

“Every drop of water which goes to the ocean without being used for power or used to grow, or being made available on the widest possible basis is a waste, and I hope that we will do everything we can to make sure that nothing runs to the ocean unused and wasted.” —Hanford Nuclear Generator, September 26, 1963


Inspecting the space capsule Friendship-7 with John Glenn, Cape Canaveral, 1962.		Watching the lift-off of John Glenn with staff at the White House, 1962		With Wernher von Braun at Cape Canaveral, 1963 Credits: JFK Presidential Library and Museum/ NASA

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Speaking to the crowd in County Wexford, Ireland, his family’s ancestral home.
Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Kennedy also intended to extend Franklin Roosevelt’s TVA model to all river basins in the United States. Kennedy identified the problem in a special message to Congress: “Our supply of water is not always consistent with our needs of time and place. Floods one day in one section may be countered in other days or in other sections by severe water shortages... Our available water supply must be used to give maximum benefits for all purposes—hydroelectric power, irrigation and reclamation, navigation, recreation, health, home and industry.”

In a national tour to inaugurate new hydropower dams across the country in 1963, Kennedy elaborated his commitment to creating a fully integrated water management system for the entire continent. This vision would later develop, with the support of Robert Kennedy, into the North American Water & Power Alliance, which to this day remains unbuilt.

“Let The Oppressed Go Free”

“Malthus argued a century and a half ago that man, by using up all his available resources, would forever press on the limits of subsistence, thus condemning humanity to an indefinite future of misery and poverty. We can now begin to hope and, I believe, know that Malthus was expressing not a law of nature... The truth or falsity of his prediction will depend now, with the tools we have, on our own actions, now and in the years to come.”
—National Academy of Sciences, October 22, 1963

From his time in combat through his Congressional career, Kennedy observed with horror the effects of oppression on colonized peoples. The famine and depredation that much of the world suffered, he saw not as a natural state of man but the result of imperialism, and committed himself to liberating mankind from poverty, hunger and disease with the powers of technology. After touring the Middle East as a Congressman, Kennedy reported in a national radio address in 1951:

“It is a troubled area of the world that I saw. It is an area in which poverty and sickness and disease are rampant... It is an area of our world that for a hundred years and more has been the source of empire for western Europe—for England and France and Holland. Here colonialism is the daily fare of millions of men... For several years now the Middle East has been in revolt. That spirit of revolt stems from a deep-seated desire to lift to some degree the pall of famine and injustice that for so long has characterized this area. It is natural that that revolt should have focused initially on Britain and on France... The true enemy of the Arab world is poverty and want.”

In 1956, at a speech on St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, Kennedy delivered a thorough denunciation of the post-Roosevelt doctrine of defending Western colonialism in the name of combating communism:

Meeting with General Douglas MacArthur, 1961. Credit: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

“Why in this past decade has not the United States consistently based its conduct of foreign affairs upon the recognition of every man’s desire to be free? ...We fight to keep the world free from Communist imperialism—but in doing so we hamper our efforts, and bring suspicion upon our motives, by being closely linked with Western imperialism. We have permitted the reputation of the United States as a friend of oppressed people to be hitched to the chariot of the conqueror; because we have believed we could have it both ways... The time has come for a more forceful stand. I urge, therefore, that this nation inform our allies and the world at large that this nation will speak out boldly for freedom for all people—whether they are denied that freedom by an iron curtain of tyranny, or by a paper curtain of colonial ties and constitutional manipulations...”

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Greeting members of the Vienna Boys’ Choir at the White House, 1962		With contralto Marian Anderson and accompanist Franz Rupp in the Oval Office, 1962		Cellist Pablo Casals performs at the White House, 1961 Credits: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

And at a campaign speech at Stanford University in 1960, Kennedy said of Africa: “The African people believe that the science, technology, and education available to the modern world can overcome their struggle for existence. They believe that their poverty, squalor, ignorance and disease can be conquered... If African progress falters because of lack of capital and education, if these new states and emerging peoples turn bitter in their taste of independence, then the reason will be that the Western powers, by indifference or lack of imagination, have failed to see that it is their own future that is also at stake. Will we accept this challenge, or will it be that some future historian will say of us as of previous civilizations, that ‘where there is not vision the people perish.’ ”

Nor would a Kennedy who opposed all forms of human oppression and degradation abroad, concede to allow it to persist at home. In June 1963, he declared: “We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home; but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other, that this is a land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettos, no master race except with respect to Negroes?... We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people...”

“Let Us Encourage The Arts”

Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to poet Robert Frost, 1962
Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum

“In pursuing his perceptions of reality, the artist must often sail against the currents of his time. This is not a popular role... If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist...In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of having ‘nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope.’ ”
—Speech at Amherst College, October 26, 1963

This afternoon, as we celebrate and rededicate ourselves to President Kennedy, fifty years after his death, we do so as artists, as he defined that role—as those who may often be called to sail against the currents of their time, as those whose sensitivity for justice and truth refuses to let them accept anything lesser, as those who are aware that our Nation has indeed fallen short of its highest potential, and as those who believe that in best serving one’s vision of the truth, one best serves his nation.

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The Schiller Institute Chorus

John Sigerson, Director

Nataly Wickham, soprano
Heather Gallagher, mezzo-soprano

William Ferguson, tenor
Ron Williams, bass

Sopranos

Isabel Alcega

Megan Beets

Susan Bowen

Rachel Brown

Gabriela Carr

Alicia Cerretani

Maria Channon

Susan Director

Margaret Fairchild
Mary Jane Freeman

Michelle Fuchs

Anita Gallagher

Margaret Greenspan

Judy Hodgkiss

Ashwak Iman

Jennifer Kreingold

Tara Lappas

Rebecca Lightcap

Natalie Lovegren

Lisa Marut-Shriver

Sharon Montella

Karen Nafziger

Stephanie Nelson

Laurence Rebello

Malene Robinson
Margaret Scialdone
Deborah Sonnenblick

Lynne Speed

Sarah Stuart

Starr Valenti

Leslie Vaughan

Jessica White

Joelle Wright

Altos

Marian Black

Cloret Ferguson

Vera Ryen Gregg

Nancy Guice

Suzanne Klebe

Susan Kokinda

Marcia Merry-Baker

Limari Navarette

Lara O’Connell

Alexandra Phillips

Ema Reuter

Meghan Rouillard

Leni Rubinstein

Nancy Spannaus

Jessica Tremblay

Susan Ulanowsky

Linda Vu

Tenors

Richard Black

Douglas DeGroot

Alan Demers

Mark Fairchild

Bill Ferguson
Ronald Kokinda

Fletcher James

Travis Johnson

Creighton Jones

Stuart Lewis

Rick Lopez

Scott Mooney

Arthur Murphy

Jeff Rebello

Timothy Rush

Christopher Sare

John Sparks

Dennis Speed

Robert Wesser

Basses
Brent Bedford

Mike Billington

Ian Brinkley

Daniel Burke

Richard Burden

Dana Carsrud

Benjamin Deniston

Charles Donahue
Richard Freeman

Elliot Greenspan

Roger Ham

Dennis Mason

Frank Mathis

Ryan McCusker

Alan Ogden

Matthew Ogden

Pavel Penev

Myles Robinson

Jason Ross

John Salisbury

Richard Sanders

John Scialdone

Jim Schnell

Bradley Turner

Aaron Yule

Orchestra

Violin I

Samantha Bennett

Rhiannon Banerdt

Breana Bauman

Stephanie Skor

Micah Ringham

Bob Anemone

Li Mei Liang

David Shavin

Violin II

Ealain McMullin

Chase Spruill

Matt Consul

Carol Cubberly

Emmy Holmes Hicks

Eunae Koh

Kelsey Blumenthal

My-Hoa Steger

Viola

Annalisa Boerner
Dana Kelley

Steve Laraia

Sam Kelder

Rebecca Sinclair
Kurt Tseng

Cello

Julia Yang

Rachel Gawell

Adrienne Taylor

Joseph Gotoff

Renée Sigerson

Jean-Sébastien Tremblay

Robert Bowen

Contrabass

Bebo Shiu

Nate Martin

Jon Davies

Bruce Director

Clarinet

Jan Halloran

Steven Jackson

Bassoon

Gregory Newtown

Sally Merriman

Trombone

Wes Hopper, alto

John Faieta, tenor

James Monaghan, bass

Trumpet

Samantha Glazier

David Detwiler

Timpani

Eric Huber

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Nataly Wickham (Soprano)—Nataly Wickham is quickly earning a reputation as an outstanding young soprano. She recently performed the role of Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito under the baton of Stephen Lord and the New England Conservatory Philharmonia. In April of 2013, at the University of Texas, she performed the role of Donna Anna with maestro Kelly Kuo. In January 2013 she covered the role of Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Austin Lyric Opera. Ms. Wickham also placed third in the Gulf Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This summer, she was a participant in Des Moines Metro Opera’s 41st season as an Apprentice Artist. In summer of 2012, she was a young artist with Opera NEO in San Diego California where she worked with soprano Brenda Harris. She was seen as Mama in a world premier performance of Daron Hagen’s opera, New York Stories at the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Wickham received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Washington where she studied with world renowned dramatic soprano, Jane Eaglen. She completed her master’s degree in opera performance at the University of Texas and studied with Darlene Wiley. She is currently in her first year of a Graduate Diploma at New England Conservatory studying with Jane Eaglen.

Heather Gallagher (Mezzo-Soprano)—Praised for her “velvety and rich” lyric mezzo, American mezzo-soprano Heather Gallagher, is increasingly becoming sought out for the dramatic intensity she brings to her roles as well as for the beauty of her instrument. Previous credits include Carmen (Carmen), Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), Cosi fan tutte (Dorabella) and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Dido). Ms. Gallagher is a recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation in 2011 as well as 2nd place winner in Metrowest Opera’s 2011 Opera Competition and a 2 year Fellowship at the Atlantic Music Festival (2011 and 2012). No stranger to the concert stage, recent engagements include Britten’s Cabaret Songs with Boston-based collaborative pianist Lindsey Albert and solos in the Duruflé Requiem and Vivald’s In turbato mare irato with rising conductor Simon Richard Jacobs. Ms. Gallagher is a member of Boston Opera Collaborative, where she appeared in Voyage à Paris under conductor Andrew Altenbach. In May she will return to BOC for the Boston premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s chamber opera, Sumeida’s Song. For more information, please visit www.HeatherAGallagher.com.

William Ferguson (Tenor)—A native of Richmond, Virginia, William Ferguson has performed with The Metropolitan Opera as Beppe in Pagliacci, Santa Fe Opera as Caliban in the American premiere of Thomas Ades’ The Tempest, Opera Australia as Truffaldino in Love For Three Oranges, New York City Opera as Candide, Nanki-Poo in Mikado, Herisson in L’Etoile, and The Electrician in Powder Her Face (a role he also performed with Opéra Festival de Québec); Opera Omaha in the world premiere of Wakonda’s Dream, Opera Festival of New Jersey as Andres in Wozzeck, Opera Memphis as Male Chorus in Rape of Lucretia, Central City Opera as George in Our Town, Chautauqua as Peter Quint in Turn of the Screw, as well as appearances with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Virginia Opera, The Dallas Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Tanglewood.

A passionate concert and recital performer, Mr. Ferguson has appeared with American Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Opera Orchestra of New York; and has been presented in recitals sponsored by the Marilyn Horne Foundation as well as New York Festival of Song. For more information, please visit www.WilliamFerguson.com.

Ron Williams (Baritone)—Ron Williams has been recognized nationwide for his artistry in opera and oratorio. He has performed leading roles with opera companies nationally, including San Francisco Spring Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera San Jose. Williams debuted with Boston Lyric Opera in Lost in the Stars, receiving critical acclaim from The New York Times. Ron’s European debut was with the Düsseldorf Chamber Orchestra and he has performed extensively throughout Europe. Future dates will include participation in the world premier of Anne Hutchinson with Intermezzo Opera and Rigoletto with Boston Lyric Opera.

John Sigerson (Director)—John Sigerson, a founding member of the Schiller Institute and currently its Music Director, has worked for decades with Schiller Institute Chairman Helga Zepp-LaRouche and her husband Lyndon LaRouche to bring about a Renaissance of Classical musical composition and performance. His musical education includes study with contrabass soloist Gary Karr, and voice with Mexico’s José Briano and Italy’s Antonella Banaudi. In 1992 he co-authored A Manual on the Rudiments of Tuning and Registration, in which the general argument is presented why Classical music must be based on a fixed tuning of A=432 cycles per second. A highlight of his promotion of this “Verdi tuning” was his participation in 1993 with tenor Carlo Bergonzi in a Verdi tuning demonstration held at Carnegie Hall in New York. Sigerson has directed choruses for the Schiller Institute in Europe, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States, and enjoys singing an occasional concert of Classical German Lieder.

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Text and Translation

English translation by Father David Evans

Introitus

Requiem aeternam

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;

et lux perpetuam luceat eis.

Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,

et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.

Exaudi orationem meam;

ad te omnis caro veniet.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;

et lux perpetuam luceat eis.

Kyrie

Kyrie eleison.

Christe eleison.

Kyrie eleison.

Sequentia

1. Dies Irae

Dies irae, dies illa

Solvet saeclum in favilla;

Teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus,

Quando judex est venturus,

Cuncta stricte discussurus!

2. Tuba Mirum

Tuba mirum spargens sonum,

Per sepulcra regionum,

Coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit et natura,

Cum resurget creatura,

Judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur

In quo totum continetur,

Unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,

Quidquid latet, apparebit:

Nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?

Quem patronum rogaturus,

Cum vix justus sit securus?

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord;

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

A hymn befits Thee, O God, in Zion;

and to Thee shall be paid a vow in Jerusalem.

Hear my prayer,

to Thee all flesh shall come.

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord;

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

Lord, have mercy (upon us).

Christ, have mercy (upon us).

Lord, have mercy (upon us).

A day of wrath; that day,

It will dissolve the world into glowing ashes,

As attested by David together with the Sibyl.

What trembling will there be

When the Judge shall come

To examine everything in strict justice!

The trumpet’s wondrous call sounding abroad

In tombs throughout the world

Shall drive everybody forward to the throne.

Death and nature shall stand amazed

When creation rises again

To give answer to its Judge.

A written book will be brought forth

In which everything is contained

From which the world shall be judged.

So when the Judge is seated,

Whatever (sin) is hidden will be made known:

Nothing (sinful) shall go unpunished.

What shall I, wretch, say at that time?

What advocate shall I entreat (to plead for me)

When scarcely the righteous shall be safe (from
damnation)?

-end page 12-

3. Rex tremendae

Rex tremendae majestatis,

Qui salvandos salvas gratis,

Salva me, fons pietatis.

4. Recordare

Recordare, Jesu pie,

Quod sum causa tuae viae:

Ne me perdas illa die.

Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:

Redemisti crucem passus:

Tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste Judex ultionis,

Donum fac remissionis

Ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco tamquam reus:

Culpa rubet vultus meus:

Supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,

Et latronem exaudisti,

Mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meae non sunt dignae:

Sed tu bonus fac benigne,

Ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum praesta,

Et ab haedis me sequestra,

Statuens in parte dextra.

5. Confutatis

Confutatis maledictis,

Flammis acribus addictis:

Voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis,

Cor contritum quasi cinis:

Gere curam mei finis.

6. Lacrymosa

Lacrymosa dies illa

Qua resurget ex favilla

Judicantus homo reus.

Huic ergo parce, Deus:

Pie Jesu Domine,

Dona eis requiem. Amen.

King of awesome majesty,

Who, to those that are to be saved, givest the grace of Save me, O fount of Pity. salvation,

Remember, dear Jesus,

That I am the reason for Thy journey (into this world):

Do not cast me away (from Thee) on that day.

Seeking me, Thou didst sit down weary,

Thou didst redeem me, suffering the death on the Cross:

Let not such toil have been in vain.

Just Judge of vengeance,

Grant me the gift of pardon

Before the day of reckoning.

I groan like one condemned:

My face blushes for my sins:

Spare a supplicant, o God.

Thou who didst absolve Mary (Magdalen),

And heard the robber,

Hast given me hope as well.

My prayers are not worthy:

But Thou, of Thy goodness, deal generously (with me),

That I burn not in the everlasting fire.

Give me a place among the sheep,

And separate me from the goats,

Setting me on Thy right hand.

When the accursed have been confounded

And sentenced to acrid flames,

Call me along with the blessed.

I pray, suppliant and bowed down,

My heart contrite as (though burnt to) ashes:

Take into Thy care my ending.

That day will be one of weeping

On which shall rise again from the embers

The guilty man, to be judged.

Therefore spare him, O God.

Merciful Lord Jesus,

Grant them rest. Amen.

-end page 13-

Offertorium

1. Domine Jesu

Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,

libera animas omnium fidelium

defunctorum de poenis infernis

et de profundu lacu;

libera eas de ore leonis;

ne absorbeat eas tartarus,

ne cadant in obscurum.

Sed signifer sanctus Michael

repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam.

Quam olim Abrahae promisisti

et semini ejus.

2. Hostias

Hostias et preces 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

et semini ejus.

Sanctus

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,

Domine Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

Hosanna in excelsis.

Benedictus

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine.

Hosanna in excelsis.

Agnus Dei—Lux Aeterna

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:

dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:

dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,

cum sanctis tuis in aeternam:

quia pius es.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;

et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Cum sanctis tuis in aeternam:

quia pius es.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory,

deliver the souls of all the faithful

departed, from the pains of Hell

and from the bottomless pit.

Save them from the lion’s jaws,

that hell may not engulf them,

that they may not fall into darkness,

but let Saint Michael the standard-bearer

lead them into the holy light

which Thou of old didst promise to Abraham

and to his seed.

Sacrifices and prayers

of praise to Thee, O Lord, we offer:

do Thou receive them on behalf of those souls

whom this day we [shall] commemorate.

Allow them, O Lord,

to pass from death unto life,

which Thou of old didst promise to Abraham

and to his seed.

Holy, holy, holy,

Lord God of Sabaoth,

heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,

grant them rest.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,

grant them eternal rest.

Let eternal light shine upon them, O Lord,

with Thy saints forever,

for Thou art merciful.

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord;

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

With Thy saints forever,

for Thou art merciful.

-end page 14-

The Dilemma of Tuning Pitch

It is not at all surprising that when the high art music of the Renaissance and Baroque was emerging, Europe was so politically divided and communication so slow that there was no consistent tuning pitch. This situation continued well into the nineteenth century. Different cities tuned to different pitches, and different churches within the same city tuned to different pitches. Since the most important music was overwhelmingly vocal, sometimes the only real clues to knowing where to tune came from the range of the vocal parts: voices do have limitations, especially those of church singers not always professionally skilled.

The various tuning pitches were almost always lower than modern tuning, an extreme example being the prestigious Paris Opera at the time several of Gluck’s operas were premiered there: it is known that the tuning at the Paris Opera then was a minor third lower than modern A=440 Hz. Music written in F major would thus sound to modern ears in D major. The only solution for a modern performance would be to transpose the whole opera down a minor third. Otherwise some of the solo tenor parts, which are written very high, would be excruciating. By the way, during this period Rome used the same tuning as the Paris Opera; Naples was a half-tone even lower, and Venice tuned to our modern 440. Most emphatically, one size obviously does not fit all.

Today we face the choice of where to tune in order to do justice to the standard repertory. Bach and Handel both worked in some cities where the pitch was a whole tone down from 440, and later on in places where it was only half a tone down. Modern orchestras that play Baroque music have agreed internationally to use modern copies of Baroque instruments tuned to 415, which is a half a tone down from 440. Those orchestras that play Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn by common consent tune at 430, which is nearly a quarter of a tone down from 440. (A full quarter-tone would be 427.)

Laboratory tests conducted in the nineteenth century and repeated in the twentieth, (including by the legendary Amadeus Quartet’s first violinist, Norbert Brainin, also in collaboration with the Schiller Institute), confirmed that the great stringed instruments of the old Italian masters such as Stradivarius, Guarneri and Guadagnini achieve their maximum resonance (which is to say their maximum roundness and beauty of tone) between 427 and 432. Actually 432 is ideal because it derives from middle C at 256, a major scientific constant: for example, the characteristic vibratory rates of the subatomic particles are all within this same scale of values.

The most compelling reason to tune at 432, championed by the great Giuseppe Verdi himself, is not just its scientific and theoretical significance but rather the extremely obvious gain in beautiful tone for stringed instruments, as we have seen, and even more important, for the singing voice. Nor is this improvement noticeable only to connoisseurs: the average concertgoer is immediately aware of the added glow of warmth and mellowness, especially if there is an opportunity to compare directly with the modern higher tuning.

Such an opportunity was provided in April 1993 by the Schiller Institute during a seminar conducted by the renowned Carlo Bergonzi at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, in its Weill Recital Hall, entitled “Save The Art of Bel Canto—Return to the Verdi Tuning”. A parade of singers of all voice categories each sang an aria with a piano tuned to 440 and then repeated it with a different piano tuned to 432. Both singers and the public found this comparison startlingly favorable to the 432 tuning.

One can build wind and brass instruments to tune up at any pitch one chooses, but the human voice cannot be so tuned. The great Italian Maestro Tullio Serafin deplored the modern high tuning (at 448 and up) and prophesied that if it continued, it would result in “the death of the Italian Lyric Theatre.” This high tuning is currently burning out voices, shortening careers and forcing opera companies to cast lighter, lyric voices with easy high notes in roles demanding darker and heavier voices, ones that can no longer reach the too-high top notes. No matter how supportive the conductors may try to be in keeping down the orchestral accompaniments for lighter voiced singers, the heavy orchestrations meant to support heavier voices will eventually destroy the lighter voices, which are in any event all the wrong color for the heavy roles, and thus seriously misrepresent the music they are singing.

Whichever tuning most favors the human voice must be the standard one for all music, with due exceptions made for transpositions of music composed to be performed at startlingly lower tunings. But the vast majority of works in the standard repertory will be found to be best served by the 432 tuning.

Anthony Morss
Music Director and Principal Conductor
New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, Inc.

-end page 15-

Acknowledgements

The Schiller Institute would like to extend its gratitude to the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal O’Malley, and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the opportunity to host this historic remembrance and public musical performance, with special thanks to Leo Abbott, Music Director of the Cathedral, for his assistance and generosity. Thank you also to the soloists, choral singers and other musicians who joined us in making beautiful music here today. And finally, we express our warmest appreciation to all the volunteers and others who invested their time and passion into making this event a success.