Label news: Decca takes on requiem for slaves
NewsMessage received:
Decca is proud to announce the signing of US composer Carlos Simon and the release of his new album Requiem for the Enslaved. The title work sees Simon infuse the traditional Catholic requiem with music from African American spirituals to create a haunting piece for chamber ensemble and spoken word.
The album’s central piece, Requiem for the Enslaved, with text by Marco Pavé, was commissioned by Georgetown University, where Simon is currently Assistant Professor of Composition, following a decision by its student body in 2020. A majority voted to establish a reparations fund to be paid to descendants of 272 enslaved people who were sold for $115,000 by the Maryland Jesuits, the founders of Georgetown, in 1838 to rescue the university from bankruptcy. This work honours the passing of those people purchased and sold by the founders. Upon receiving the commission, Simon visited the Louisiana cotton plantation that purchased the enslaved people and delved through the Georgetown archives for historical research as he began work on the piece. The album’s cover is inspired by this location.
Oh come on, the title of the work is Requiem for the Enslaved, rather than Requiem for Slaves – it’s written black and white in the description you copy pasted yourself.
Please don’t try to act coy : the fact that you toy with the title shows that
1. you understand the different socio-cultural layers of meaning between ‘Enslaved’ and ´Slaves’ and thus the choice the composer made in using one terminology rather than the other.
2. Nevertheless you choose to ignore the composer’s terminology, choosing to go against his will.
Shove over, Michael Tippett.