Rufus Wainwright, “Dream Requiem,” for soprano, narrator, choir, and orchestra

In 1815, the eruption of Mount Tambora plunged the Earth into darkness: a cloud of ash caused the world to experience a “Year Without a Summer.” George Byron captured this bleak vision in his poem *Darkness*—a portrait of a world without light or direction.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rufus Wainwright took up these words and composed his *Dream Requiem*: a requiem “for human touch, togetherness, and the human voice.” In it, he combines Byron’s apocalyptic vision—narrated by Iris Berben—with the texts of the traditional Mass for the Dead.

Featuring a large ensemble including an orchestra, mixed choir, children’s choir, and soprano, the work unfolds a haunting soundscape that oscillates between lament and hope. In the Offertory, a wordless viola solo hovers above the orchestra before the music fades away into a vast, receding soundscape.