Sunday 11 November is Remembrance Sunday, and we're celebrating at St Mark's Fitzroy with Fauré's Requiem (1888 version) in the context of the 9.30am liturgy. It will be a Mass for Peace, during which we remember those who died in the two World Wars and in later conflicts.

The choir will be accompanied by the chamber combination of harp, solo violin, horns and organ. The harp and solo violin are heard to telling effect in the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy Lord) and in the Recessional In Paradisum (Into paradise may the angels lead you). The horns set an ominous tone at the beginning of the Mass with the Introit, Requiem aeternam (Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord) but then provide serene exultation in the Sanctus.

Fauré’s petit Requiem (as he himself described it) was first heard at a funeral in the Church of the Madeleine, Paris, in January 1888. It does not include the Offertory, O Domine (written in 1889) or the Libera me (written independently in 1877), leaving only the sections that emphasise rest and peace, rather than fear and judgement. We shall be using only the five movements of the 1888 version. These fit the liturgy perfectly!