U.K. COMPOSER MOURNS HER MOTHER IN MUSIC
Materna Requiem ‘a monument’ to Dale’s grief following 2010 loss
Rebecca Dale didn’t realize until after she completed her Materna Requiem that it was part of her grieving process.
“I think it was sort of a sense of wanting to preserve things from the past,” she said. “It’s a few years since I’ve written it, so it’s like a monument to what I was going through at the time.”
Dale’s mother died in 2010 after a battle with breast cancer. An accomplished musician and composer, Dale used pieces of music she’d written when she was younger — pieces her mother would have had the opportunity to hear — and combined them with new compositions to create her requiem.
The full work will get its North American première as the centrepiece of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday.
At first, the Materna Requiem wasn’t something Dale ever intended another person to hear — which, she admitted, was a little bit strange for a composer working on a new piece. She ended up presenting it to representatives from her record label, Decca Records, in 2018.
The requiem obviously is a deeply personal work for Dale, who describes it as a reflection of her grieving in the wake of her mother’s death. The music in an early movement rises in what Dale called a “pleasing way” — what she referred to as the “bargaining” phase of her grief — before coming to a sense of acceptance in the second-to-last movement.
Dale said it’s an “exposing” feeling to have music born from such intimate inspiration on full display for an audience, but also noted she’d spoken to and received messages from people thanking her for the Materna Requiem and connecting to it through their own experiences.
“In the run-up to it being released, I started feeling incredibly anxious for precisely that reason — it’s such a personal thing,” she said. “It still can have that effect, but the reception I’ve had since releasing it is so heartwarming ... it’s been such a privilege for me that it can connect with people in that way.”
One of the soloists in the SSO concert has her own maternal music connection. Seventeen-year-old Kennedy Siba is the granddaughter of Fireside Singers founder and director Marilyn Whitehead, who also has been her vocal instructor throughout her childhood.
The young singer is due to audition for a spot in the University of Saskatchewan’s music department on the same day as the Materna Requiem concert, and said she owes everything she is as a performer to her mother and grandmother.
“I know it’s Rebecca Dale’s dedication to her mother through music. It really inspired me,” Siba said. “I’ve always been very lucky to perform alongside my mom and my grandma for many years.
For Dale, the Materna Requiem has become an ultimate expression of familial love. She’s making the trip from the U.K. to Saskatoon to be at the concert, and said she’s hopeful the audience will receive the piece with open hearts.
“Although it’s an exploration of death and grief, the idea is that, ultimately ... I guess I hope it leaves off appreciating life and living it well while we can,” Dale said. “I wanted to do something where people could go out humming some of the tunes, and not be ashamed about that.”