A Chesterfield County native now based in Chicago, composer Damien Geter is finishing the last of three seasons as composer-in-residence with the Richmond Symphony.
This Martin Luther King Jr. birthday weekend, the Richmond Symphony will be performing Geter’s “An African American Requiem,” a monumental work for orchestra and chorus which honors the victims of racial violence in the United States. The composition is based on the structure of a Catholic funeral mass.
The most familiar requiems in the classical repertoire are centuries old, by giants like Verdi and Mozart. Yet the form has continued to inspire, with modern versions by composers including Stravinsky, Penderecki and even Andrew Lloyd Webber. But there is no other version dedicated to the thousands of Black citizens killed over centuries of prejudice-based, fear and loathing-fueled murder. Given that the perpetrators were usually white Americans, and the piece encompasses current events, the subject is inherently political.
“I started writing the piece in 2016, after the first Trump election,” Geter says; it was before George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. “I felt like we were going to be taking some steps back. Also, at that time, we were seeing people being killed by the police in the streets.”
He wanted to write a piece about it, but couldn’t think of a better vehicle than a requiem mass. He looked to the past for inspiration.
“I am a great fan of Verdi [composer of a great, operatic requiem] and Benjamin Britten [who wrote a requiem mourning the 20th century world wars.] I know the power behind those pieces. That was a direct influence in choosing how to commemorate those who lost their lives to racial violence.”
After hearing about Geter’s concept, the piece was commissioned by Portland, Oregon’s Resonance Ensemble. It premiered, to critical acclaim, with the Oregon Symphony in 2022.
“The structure is pretty much a straight-up replica of Verdi’s ‘Requiem,’ including like how he uses the ‘Dies Irae [‘Day or Wrath”- Last Judgement],” Geter says. “I use a couple of movements that he doesn’t use. For the most part, it was an organic process. As I was getting into the weeds, trying to figure out the narrative arc, things just started coming together on their own.”
The mechanics of writing for voices came naturally to Geter, who is also a virtuoso bass baritone vocalist. “I may have a leg up on [composers who] aren’t singers. It influences the way I write. Also I like melodies, so that shapes the instrumental side of things. Almost anything that I write, I approach from an operatic point of view.”
The subject is massive, but this is anything but a dry history lesson. “I want to make sure the narrative is sequential and it all makes sense,” he says.
Despite the liturgical model, the piece is largely secular, drawing on music both inside and outside serious modern composition. “There is some blues in the piece, and one large jazz section. A lot of people say they hear gospel in it,” he says. “But I don’t think that exists, at least not intentionally. Maybe it is a product of my own vernacular. Most of it is what I consider contemporary classical. There is a lot of flexibility with a full orchestra, big choir and four soloists. It is a huge piece.”
“An African American Requiem” was something of a first course to Geter’s next career milestone in April of last year: Virginia Opera’s world premiere of “Loving v. Virginia.”
Artists move on, but their most successful creations gain lives of their own.
“I thought that [“An African American Requiem”] had run its course the last time around,” Geter says. “Apparently, it had a second wind.”
Damien Geter’s “An African Requiem” with the Richmond Symphony takes place on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Carpenter Theatre. Tickets start at $20. Go here for tickets.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the timing of the “Loving v. Virginia” opera and has been corrected.
