History and reception [ edit ] Plácido Domingo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Sarah Brightman at the world premiere of Requiem. Darvell, Michael (21 December 2008). "Andrew to help BBC find Oliver!". Andrew Lloyd Webber. Archived from the original on 25 January 2008 . Retrieved 29 June 2008. Although I don’t claim to be terribly familiar with the Requiem mass as a genre, the text has always intrigued me. It’s so theatrical. And I very much enjoy writing for the sound of the Latin language, which obviously has something in that it has endured as long as it has. I was also very interested to see whether or not I could make a requiem for an audience of today.

The work, although a Latin Requiem Mass, was inspired by a tragic article Andrew read in the New York Times about a Cambodian boy who suffered under the Khmer Rouge, and is also dedicated to his father, William Lloyd Webber, who had died in 1982. It includes the song “Pie Jesu,” which remains one of the composer’s most popular works and has been covered by many artists, including Charlotte Church, Anna Netrebko, Marie Osmond and Katherine Jenkins. Lloyd Webber (middle) with his then-wife Sarah Brightman (right) in 1985. He would cast her as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera which debuted in London the following year. Ouzounian, Richard (2 January 2006). "Aspects of Andrew". Toronto Star– via EBSCOHost Research Database. John Higgins writes in the liner notes of the “First Edition Concert Program” included with the first release of the video that “two events set the Requiem in motion. The first was the death of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s father in 1982 and the second was a story about Cambodia in an obscure corner of the New York Times, concerning a boy who was faced with the choice of killing his mutilated sister or being killed himself. Cambodia has no musical influence in the score, but it did give Lloyd Webber the idea of scoring the Requiem for a boy, a girl and a man: in other words, treble, high soprano and tenor. He toyed with including a bass, but soon rejected the concept … The presence of Placido Domingo as the tenor suggests that the Requiem will also be described as operatic.”Lloyd Webber was made a life peer in 1997, sitting for the Conservative Party. [123] By the end of 2015, he had voted only 33 times in the House of Lords. [124] Politically, Lloyd Webber has supported the Conservatives, allowing his song " Take That Look Off Your Face" to be used on a party promotional film seen by an estimated one million people before the 2005 general election. [125] In August 2014, Lloyd Webber was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. [126]

The 100 most powerful people in British culture". The Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman to reunite for special festive show". The Independent . Retrieved 31 October 2022. I was surprised when they asked me if they could release the "Pie Jesu" as a single, and I said, "Fine, if you want to, but I must give my own royalties to a charity," which I did. And for some reason, it’s been the biggest European hit I’ve ever had. It’s all very surprising.

Versions

Barnett, Laura (8 January 2014). "Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist – portrait of the artist". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 December 2014. British certifications – Sarah Brightman & Paul Miles-Kingston – Pie Jesu". British Phonographic Industry.