Requiem in E flat for soprano, contralto, tenor, bass and orchestra, Adding to the paucity of recordings of Jommelli's music, this release brings us an hour-long requiem from 1756 when the composer was resident at the Würtemberg court in Stuttgart, a work which reflects the serene, contemplative reaction to death of the Reformist church in its fluent and decorous style.
It contains:
* Introitus
01. Requiem æternam (2’15)
* Kyrie
02. Kyrie eleison (0’55)
03. Christe eleison (1’04)
04. Kyrie eleison (1’04)
* Sequentia
05. Dies irae (4’02)
06. Salva me, fons pietatis (5’19)
07. Oro supplex et acclinis (2’11)
08. Pie Jesu Domine (1’57)
* Offertorium
09. Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae (0’36)
10. Libera eas de ore leonis (0’53)
11. Quam olim Abrahae promisisti (1’22)
12. Hostias et praeces tibi, Domine (1’20)
13. Quam olim Abrahae promisisti (1’23)
* Sanctus
14. Sanctus, Dominus Deus (1’25)
15. Hosanna (1’03)
* Benedictus
16. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (2’05)
17. Hosanna in excelsis (1’07)
* Agnus Dei
18. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi (1’09)
19. Dona eis requiem (1’49)
* Communio
20. Lux aeterna luceat eis Domine (0’56)
21. Requiem aeternam (1’46)
22. Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum (0’40)

♫ 01. Requiem æternam
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 02. Kyrie eleison
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 03. Christe eleison
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 04. Kyrie eleison
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 05. Dies irae
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 06. Salva me, fons pietatis
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 07. Oro supplex et acclinis
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 08. Pie Jesu Domine
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 09. Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 10. Libera eas de ore leonis
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 11. Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 12. Hostias et praeces tibi, Domine
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 13. Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 14. Sanctus, Dominus Deus
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 15. Hosanna
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 16. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 17. Hosanna in excelsis
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 18. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 19. Dona eis requiem
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 20. Lux aeterna luceat eis Domine
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 21. Requiem aeternam
© Passacaille 1076


♫ 22. Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum
© Passacaille 1076

This requiem has been written in occasion of the funereal ceremony of the duchess Maria Augusta of Württemberg (1706 - 1756), the mother of Carlo Eugenio, duke of Rome. A mixture of styles, not unusual for the period, is evident in Jommelli's Requiem in E (1756). Operatic solos (for soprano in the Benedictus, and for bass, with ‘heroic’ descending octaves, in the "Tuba mirum") are juxtaposed, somewhat uneasily, with stretches of pedestrian church counterpoint, one of them a double fugue for the "Pie Jesu" which compares strangely with later songlike settings of that text.

Jommelli, in his requiem of 1756, set the full sequence in a large quadripartite form within a generally dramatic, florid and sometimes lyric style. The alto solo at "mors stupebit" in the sequence is virtuoso in the use of runs, trills and ornaments. The expressive adagios of the "Libera me" contrast with the florid writing in the other parts of the work. As a whole, Jommelli's setting shows him to have been a very skilled contrapuntist.

From the late 17th century onwards, mainly through the contributions of leading opera composers such as Feo, Galuppi, Hasse, Pergolesi, Jommelli, Gassmann, Cimarosa and Gossec, individual movements of the requiem became gradually larger, the orchestration richer and the solo vocal writing more elaborate. In some cases, single texts, usually the sequence and the responsory, were set separately, either as independent motets or as a means of providing vivid contrast within chanted forms of the funeral service.

After Jommelli's wife died, he set about composing another Requiem, in c-minor. He died before completing it. A copy is held in the Turchini Library, near Jommelli's home-town of Naples.