October 19, 2022 at 6:28 p.m.
Amsterdam composer's Requiem concert to premiere at St. Luke's
Amsterdam composer's Requiem concert to premiere at St. Luke's
“Requiem: What Remains is Love,” is a 75-minute, Requiem concert written and composed by Maria Riccio Bryce, an Amsterdam musician, composer and music director for over 25 years at St. Luke’s Church. The concert premieres at St. Luke’s (1241 State St., in Schenectady) on Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. with a second showing on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m.
A Requiem or Requiem Mass is a Latin Mass offered in the Catholic Church for the repose of the soul. “What Remains is Love” uses parts of the framework of a traditional Requiem with Ricco Bryce’s songs and score work interspersed throughout the piece. The chorus consists of 24 singers, including two of Riccio Bryce’s own children and a handful of close friends who have worked with the composer throughout the years.
“I just felt that I have some things to say about faith and the end of life,” she said. “I’ve had to look really deeply at what I think I believe. That in itself is a gift at my age because you get kind of lazy about it. You think, ‘I’ll think about it tomorrow.’ But you can’t write something and ask people to sing it if you don’t believe it.”
The songs align with the Requiem’s theme and follow various questions of life and death. In her opening piece, Riccio Bryce wonders what happens to our voice when we die. Other songs highlight different elements of death, such as the souls that are hosted in our bodies and a realization of our own mortality as children.
“This sounds so grim,” she laughed, “but I know I’ve got something special here. I don’t say that lightly because I’ve put my heart and soul into it. It’s very faith-filled but it’s also very passionate, and I think it’s hopeful.”
A graduate of Amsterdam High and Manhattanville College, Riccio Bryce spent her post-graduate years working in theater and music in London. After moving back to Amsterdam, Riccio Bryce produced the 1990 “Hearts of Fire” musical on the 300th anniversary of the Schenectady Massacre, and in 2001, composed “The Amsterdam Oratorio,” 16 songs dedicated to different aspects of life in the Amsterdam area and other major works such as, “Mother, I’m Here,” and “Swan Song.”
Riccio Bryce started working on her Requiem concert a few years ago but felt it wasn’t getting where it needed to be. She tabled the project for a time, but always knew it was something she was called to write. During her first few years as a music director for St. Luke’s, Riccio Bryce recalled struggling with leading the funerals for the church and almost gave up the job.
“My first funeral was a man who had daughters,” she said. “I heard the daughters wailing and I got all shaky and choked up and I said I can’t do this.” Gradually, Riccio Bryce found that working with the public helped her to overcome that hurdle: “All the years I’ve been here since, I consider the work I do at funerals the best part of my job, and I’m proud of it.”
Added Riccio Bryce: “As we look back on the human life we had, we realize — in this new divine life we’ve got — that we did our best and now we’re free. The cancer, the school shootings, the wars, the abuse, the hatred, we’re free of it. And we look from this beautiful whatever it is, this eternal throbbing of something that is us, and we’ll rejoice. I hope when people leave here, they think, ‘I guess it will be OK to die.’ ”
“Requiem: What Remains is Love” is a free show open to the public and does not require a reservation. For questions, call St. Luke’s Church office at (518) 346-3405.
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