Amor Aeternus: A Requiem for the Common Man

“Much has changed since Aaron Copeland and others celebrated the glory of possibilities for the ordinary citizen. Over the last quarter of a century this exuberant spirit and perhaps naive optimism have evaporated leaving a void in many souls which has become filled with consumerism, indifference and cynicism. Increasingly, we have had to replace a moment of joy and love of life with strength and grace in a time of hardship and we are repeatedly called upon to sustain more than our bodies and minds are meant to endure. Yet, our human spirit continues to prevail.

It is by contrast, in the face of recent adversity, that we have witnessed the grit, deep faith, and moral fiber of the everyday person. Common people worldwide have reinvented themselves and risen to the challenge of unimaginable circumstances, when systems and resources have failed them. It is my belief that we are experiencing the evolution of mankind where intuition refines our logic and reason.

Everyday people are the unsung heroes upon whose backs our world often now depends.
It is for them I have composed this Requiem.”

-Heidi Breyer

The work, already recorded on the Winterhall Records label, will be performed by the Chorus for the Common Man with soloists Barbara Hill (soprano), Elizabeth Rogers (soprano), and Nathan Halbur (baritone), and accompanied by the Boston World Strings and the composer on piano. The conductor is Eugene Friesen.