Requiem 

by Andrew Lloyd Webber

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Requiem

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is a Mass requiem that premiered in 1985. It was written in memory of the composer's father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982. 

It was a new venture for Lloyd Webber, the composer of numerous musicals, to create a piece of traditional classical music. The music mixes Lloyd Webber's melodic and pop-oriented style with more complex, sophisticated, and sometimes even austere forms.

An initial draft of Requiem was heard during the 1984 Sydmonton Festival, after which Lloyd Webber spent an additional half-year polishing the work. The premiere took place on 24 February 1985 in St. Thomas Church, New York; the conductor was Lorin Maazel, and the three soloists were Plácido Domingo, Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's wife at the time), and Paul Miles-Kingston.

Requiem won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The most popular segment of Requiem has been the Pie Jesu, which became a hit single and has been recorded by numerous artists.

On 20 July 2013, Lorin Maazel revisited Requiem at The Castleton Festival. Featured performers were soprano Joyce El-Khoury, tenor Tyler Nelson, and treble Tommy Richman.[3]

Since then, the work has been rarely, if ever, performed live.