UCLA

This dissertation explores the evolution of the musical setting of the Requiem Mass from its origins in the Catholic Mass for the Dead to its transformation into a concert genre that reflects deeply personal, cultural, and philosophical perspectives on death and remembrance. Beginning with Mozart and extending through Brahms, Verdi, Fauré, and Britten, the study identifies five defining characteristics of the “Concert Requiem:” (1) text; (2) cyclic or arch structure; (3) symbolic tonal centers; (4) motivic unity; and (5) dramatic or theatrical narrative devices. These elements collectively form the framework through which later composers express individual viewpoints on mortality and transcendence. The analysis then focuses on three 21st-century works—Richard Danielpour’s An American Requiem (2001), Ian Krouse’s Armenian Requiem (2015), and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered (2019)—each examined through the lens of point of view: the emotional, narrative, philosophical, political, or cultural stance the composer takes toward the subject of death. Danielpour’s work merges the Latin Mass with American poetry to reflect a humanistic view of war and loss; Krouse’s, based on Armenian liturgical hymns and vernacular poetry, integrates a rich array of musical traditions to honor cultural resilience and collective memory; and Snider’s reimagines the Mass as an ecological requiem, lamenting the extinction of species and urging care for the natural world. Together, these analyses demonstrate how contemporary composers engage the requiem tradition not as a static religious form, but as a living artistic language capable of addressing modern questions of identity, spirituality, and moral responsibility. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the practical application of these findings to my own composition, The Sun in My Heart, which draws upon the structural and philosophical principles of the Concert Requiem to create a personal reflection on renewal, interconnectedness, and the enduring human desire to find light within darkness. Through this synthesis of historical analysis, contemporary study, and creative application, the project reveals how the requiem continues to evolve as a powerful medium for expression and remembrance in the 21st century.