Kozlowsky: Requiem

Requiem for a Nation

The Singapore Symphony and its music director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, together with the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists: Olga Peretyatko (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Christoph Seidl (bass).

The Requiem (1798) was commissioned to Kozłowski by the abdicated King Stanisław of Poland, and can be perceived as a requiem not just for the monarch, but for the entire Polish nation, absorbed by the Russian state during the 1780s. Interestingly, the work was also heard during the funeral of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in a different version with heavier orchestration and choruses for more drama.

The current recording uses a new edition created by conductor Graf himself, realizing the intimate character of the original 1798 version. Composed just 7 years after Mozart’s famous Requiem, the work is rooted in Viennese Classicism, yet also adumbrates nineteenth-century developments, with a subtle Slavonic tinge. This revival is a gem to anyone interested in music from the early Romantic era.

The Singapore Symphony returns to Pentatone after their acclaimed recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Locatelli’s Labirinto armonico starring violinist Chloe Chua (2023). Hans Graf, the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir and the vocal quartet all make their Pentatone debut.

The Singapore Symphony
Hans Graf – music director and conductor
Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir
Olga Peretyatko (soprano)
Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano)
Boris Stepanov (tenor)
Christoph Seidl (bass)