Requiem Mass: Notes from the Conductor

Patrick Hagen, Director of Music Ministry

This year's Requiem comes from the pen of Bob Chilcott, one of the 21st century's most widely performed choral composers. A former chorister and choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and later a member of The King’s Singers, Chilcott has spent his life creating music that is joyful to sing and deeply communicative. His Requiem, written for soprano and tenor soloists, chorus, and orchestra, draws on texts from both the Missa pro defunctis and the Book of Common Prayer. In it, he brings familiar words of faith and mourning into a world of sound that feels unmistakably human: solemn, radiant, grieving, and hopeful all at once.

I first encountered this work about fifteen years ago while singing with a small volunteer chamber ensemble in New Jersey called PhiloMusica. From the first rehearsal, I was moved by how gently the music seemed to hold space for loss. The opening Introit begins with a quiet, steady pulse, almost like a heartbeat, inviting stillness rather than sorrow. As the piece unfolds, the Pie Jesu rises like a slow unfolding of wings, carrying us through the earliest, most fragile moments of grief. Then, without warning, the Sanctus and Benedictus burst forth in a wave of sound, full of urgency and fire, giving voice to all the harder emotions we often keep tucked away: fear, anger, longing.

And yet, by the time we reach Thou Knowest, Lord, we find ourselves standing on steadier ground. In this simple setting, peace and faith quietly emerge — the storm has passed. The work closes with words that speak for all who have ever searched for light in the dark:

“I believe in the Sun, even when it’s not shining.
I believe in Love, even when I feel it not.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

My hope is that this music, offered in remembrance of our beloved departed, will bring you the same comfort it has brought me. May this Requiem help us find peace in the presence of God’s quiet, enduring light.

Remembering Our Beloved Faithful Departed

Join us Sunday, November 2 at 5 pm at St. Ignatius Church for Requiem Mass with Bob Chilcott’s Requiem.This will be an evening of prayer and music to honor our sorrows, to mourn, celebrate, and remember the loved ones who have gone before us.

Submit your Mass Intention and names of loved ones to appear in our Requiem Mass Program, today (if you haven't already). Names submitted after Sunday, October 26, at 5 pm will not appear in the Requiem Mass Program, but will be honored at the Altar of Remembrance.

Livestream of the liturgy will be available on YouTube. If you attend in person, we invite you to bring a physical photo of your loved one(s) to our Altar of Remembrance.