(micro)REQUIEM: remembrance

(micro)Requiem: remembrance

a new film by soprano and composer
Misha Penton

Re-imagining renewal & rebirth

A six movement (micro)Requiem: a dream-world of transformations inspired by Mozart’s unfinished Requiem in D minor. The (micro)Requiem is a voice and video reflection upon the challenges, sorrows, and expectations of 2020. At first, the piece may seem ominous, but the (micro)Requiem is ultimately a work of hope and remembrance which re-imagines healing, renewal, and rebirth. Released daily in honor of All Hallow’s Eve / All Soul Day / Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): October 26 - November 1, 2020.

(micro)Requiem

The full-length film. Six movements. Four minutes, forty-three seconds

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Fragments of Mozart's Requiem are hidden-woven into the composition of the (micro)Requiem. Of note, the final movement, lux aeterna, is a fragment from the soprano solo and chorus (with the voice parts slightly askew) which appears at the end of the W.A.M. Requiem (contemporary editions).

And I’m leaving the translations up to you and Google. The Latin is so beautiful and multi-layered and full of what philosopher Julia Kristeva calls the genotext: the subconscious dimension of language wherein ‘the poetic experience...tries to reconcile the body and the language’.

The (micro)Requiem was released daily in honor of Hallowe’en / All Soul’s / Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead). The duration of the movements range from thirty seconds to a little over one minute and were released as mini-music films starting on Monday, October 26 and culminated in the full project on Sunday, November 1, 2020.

The (micro)Requiem is a new series of miniature voice and video works continuing from Misha’s 11-part Micro Opera project which was released during the winter and spring of 2020.

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Individual Movements of the (micro)Requiem

(micro)Requiem i. requiem - one minute, twenty-eight seconds

In this first movement, there is a tiny fragment of Mozart near the beginning of this one. Choral nerds: can you find it?

(micro)Requeim ii. dies irae - twenty-seven seconds

I love the fire and brimstone of the Dies irae. No Mozart fragments in this one.

(micro)Requiem iii. domine jesu - one minute, ten seconds

Some wee hidden Mozart from the contemporary editions for the hunters.

(micro)Requiem iv. sanctus - twenty-three seconds

A stolen chord from Mozart from the contemporary editions and other wonders.

(micro)Requiem v. agnus dei - twenty-eight seconds

(micro)Requiem vi. lux aeterna - forty-one seconds

And so, here we are. This movement is a fragment of the soprano solo and chorus from the second half of the Agnus dei, the final movement of the Mozart’s Requiem in some contemporary editions. You’ll notice the vocal parts are all there, but they're slightly a-kilter in the way they line up, as is the case with the hidden W.A. fragments in the other movements.

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