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Maybe a thundering passage of deep brass was to be expected in the ‘Tuba Mirum’. But instead I interpreted it as a lyrical prayer. A prayer from the suffering to call before the Judge the sinners to account for their actions.
A calmly recited ‘Liber Scriptus’ is followed by a wrathful reprise of the opening.
‘Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, cum vix justus sit securus?’ (‘What am I, miserable, then to say? Which patron to ask, when even the just may only hardly be sure?’) This expression of doubt and despondency from the alto is answered by a pleading cry from the choir with the ‘Rex tremendae’.
The ‘Recordare Jesu pie’ is yet another prayer. A sigh with a heavy heart, a plea to the Lord not to have to succumb. Or at least the hope - in full consciousness and humility - to be able to bear the pains and deprivations.
After the growls of the wrathful Lord, the ‘Confutatis maledictis’ contains a cry of rage and pleading laments from the choir, ending in a repetition of the opening.
Finally, the ‘Lacrymosa dies illa’ contains prayers that the world will bow down regretfully before the judge and that the Lord shall forgive his sinners and grant the world blessed peace.
The nearly reluctant ‘Amen’ at the end suggests that the poor souls really did not know anymore what to thank the Lord for. For their miserable slice of daily bread? For the pitiful survival of yet another painful day? Or for getting closer to a final salvation from deprivations?
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