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St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 22 S. 6th Street, Lebanon, announced that it will premiere a new musical setting of the “Requiem” by local composer, Scott Eggert, at its annual Solemn Requiem Mass on Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 6:00 PM as part of its Evensong/Concert Series. All are welcome to participate in this worship service.

“We are delighted to premier a work composed by one of our own parishioners,” said The Rev. David Zwifka, Rector of St. Luke’s. Eggert is an emeritus professor of music at Lebanon Valley College and has been a long-time parishioner of the church in Lebanon. “I wanted to allow participants the opportunity to emotionally connect with someone they have loved, and lost through the music employed for this service,” Eggert said.

“This is the purpose of the requiem liturgy,” Zwifka commented, “that is, to allow the sacred texts to touch not only the mind but also the heart through the medium of music.

“Words of Scripture, ancient prayers, music, and liturgical actions all work together to engage the whole person in an experience that can at once bring comfort and insight into the purposes of human life,” he continued.

The texts of the Requiem Mass (sometimes known as the “Mass for the Dead”) is notable for the large number of musical compositions that it has inspired over centuries, including settings by Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz,  Brahms, Fauré, and Duruflé, among others. Originally, such compositions were meant to be performed in a liturgical worship service. Over time, the dramatic character of the texts inspired composers to make the requiem a musical genre of its own. Many such compositions are essentially concert pieces rather than liturgical works. Eggert’s new composition, however, is equally available both to the concert hall and to the church as worship.

More information on St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s and its music and worship programming can be found on its website www.stlukeslebanonn.org.