In Paradisum

In 2021, I wrote a Cantabile for organ. A chorister who heard the piece approached me to ask if I could arrange the work for choir – an almost impossible request. However, while playing the piece on the piano, I remembered the early church text ‘Zum Paradies’ from the Catholic funeral liturgy; the text and melody were an almost ideal match, and the idea for In Paradisum was born. While searching for another suitable text, I remembered Arthur Schopenhauer‘s vivid and powerful sentence, which can be found in the funeral chapel of Frankfurt’s main cemetery and has fascinated me for many years.
Thus, the two works Trauer-Ode and In Paradisum were created at the end of 2022. The first performance took place on 25 March 2023 in the Marktkirche Wiesbaden. The work In Paradisum is dedicated to ‘my’ Marktkirchenchor, to whom I owe many wonderful musical experiences. I composed the Trauer-Ode in memory of my father, who died in 2012. He made my musical education possible in the first place.

Trauer-Ode / Mozart-Requiem / In Paradisum
Which is the setting for Mozart’s Requiem? Due to the special requirements for the orchestra, the choice of complementary pieces is limited. It was therefore necessary to take up the pen myself. There is a ‘program’ behind this trilogy: the Trauer-Ode mourns the death of a beloved person. With the following Requiem (Mozart), the church funeral rite is performed. Finally, with In Paradisum, the loved one is led into the kingdom of heaven.
While searching for a suitable text for the Trauer-Ode, I came across the poet August Zarnack, a contemporary of Mozart, who wrote his text in song form. Here, rosemary appears as a symbol of death. A calm beginning merges seamlessly into a ‘funeral procession’, rhythmically accompanied by the snare drum, while the climax is reached with the sombre fortissimo B flat minor sounds, culminating in the question ‘Oh dearest, are you dead?’. This is repeated – almost like a vision of not wanting to realise the death of our beloved. Then we return to reality and follow the triple call ‘Kyrie eleison’, ‘Christe eleison’, ‘Kyrie eleison’, followed by the recited text of the funeral liturgy ‘Requiem aeternam’. The work ends hauntingly and sombrely with a contra-B-flat on the word ‘tot’ (dead) and the sombre emptiness of the bass drum. The Mozart Requiem can immediately follow these sounds.
Mozart’s work was often at the end of the programme in my concerts.
If there was one criticism of such a fantastic work, in my view it would be that it lacks the ‘bright light’ with a positive and comforting ending, which is of course also due to the unfinished nature of the work. This is the basic idea behind In Paradisum. The Mozartian orchestration is reinforced by the addition of instruments such as the bass drum, cymbals and bells. The composition begins simply with a melodic line that later develops into hymn-like grandeur. This is followed by several impressive climaxes before a sombre mood suddenly sets in. After the oppressive atmosphere of death, the piece once again gains hymnic intensity, finally ending with an impressive divine glorification and a confident ‘Amen’, grandiose and brimming with the power of faith.
- Thomas Jörg Frank