Eternal Light: A Requiem by Howard Goodall

The Church of the Transfiguration

The COT 2023 Spring Concert, “Eternal Light: A Requiem by Howard Goodall” is a work meant to

foster collaboration between choristers, soloists, orchestra, and dancers.

Requiem is not often heard in today’s world and yet we have no words sympathetic enough to mourn for

those who pass away or to help those in mourning. The Goodall Requiem in particular was composed

with the sole purpose to ease the appalling pain of loss and grief without any biblical judgment.

We wish to perform this requiem in our community to give peace and solace, especially in the wake of the

pandemic and violence around the world. As the traditional requiem text calls for “eternal peace, rest and

light” for the deceased, we wish to expand the meaning to “For those who wish for a kind and loving

space.”

The music is a vehicle to transport us from the hurt we experience every day to somewhere peaceful and

comforting. By incorporating a dance in which two dancers juxtapose movements of sluggishness,

lightness and soaring, the artists convey the idea of moving the energy towards light, and moving out of

darkness and grief. The audience will not only have an abstract sense of the music, they will be lifted to

the peaceful space by the lyrics, the voice of the choir, and the visual of the dancers.

 

Eternal Light: A Requiem for the Choir, Orchestra, Soloists, and Dance is made possible in
part with public funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New
York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New
York State Legislature and administered by LMCC.