Cheryl Frances-Hoad's Excelsus for solo Cello. 'Excelsus takes the form of a suite each movement being based on a passage from the Requiem mass text. Although I spent many hours refining my interpretation of the words the work is ultimately a more instinctive reaction to the evocative language of the excerpts. However my stance was always totally atheistic and this infiltrates everything from the mood through the disregard for the text’s order to the instrumentation (the use of a lone figure which I viewed as a musical equivalent to the ‘first person’ offending against the liturgical norms which areconcerned with people as a community). Musically the entire work is based on two themes one melodic (the Rex Tremendae or ‘King of Awful Majesty’ theme which is heard at the very opening) and one chordal (the Lux Aeternum (Light eternal) chords not revealed in their pure form until the pizzicato passage that concludes the suite). The order ofthe movements is as follows: Requiem Aeternum (Grant them eternal rest)Kyrie (Lord have mercy)Tuba Mirum (Hark the Trumpet)Sanctus (Holy holy)Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)Quid Sum Miser (What shall I a wretch say then )' - Cheryl Frances-Hoad
