This week's world premiere of Wilberg's latest work, a Requiem, is likely to accelerate his fame around the globe and might even change perceptions in his home state.
Wilberg's Requiem premieres Friday and Saturday at the Salt Lake Tabernacle in performances by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Temple Square Chorale and Orchestra at Temple Square. Tabernacle Choir music director Craig Jessop conducts the Wilberg Requiem; Wilberg will lead the chorale and orchestra in the Mozart Requiem.
Utahns have the first chance, but not the last, to hear the new work. The Berkshire Music Festival is planning a performance; Oxford University Press, which recently named Wilberg a house composer, is making preliminary plans for a New York City premiere.
"We're looking at one of the main churches in New York City, with a premiere by a well-known and high-level group," said Todd Waldman, U.S. music editor for England-based Oxford University Press.
Oxford is regarded as "one of the most distinguished publishing houses of choral music in the world," Jessop said. And at Oxford, Wilberg's standing could hardly be higher.
"He's one of our most important composers," Waldman said. "It's not just churches with Utah and Mormon affiliations buying his music. It's all over the country. It's amazing how quickly this has gone from something regional to something national."
Although Wilberg's music already is performed in Europe, especially England, Oxford is planning a major international launch, Waldman said. That includes flying Wilberg to England in August for choral workshops and performances, tailoring his music for the European market and issuing a "brand-new catalog of just his works."
Waldman said the genius of Wilberg's music lies in its blend of top-notch compositional quality and accessibility.
"It has grandeur, energy, craftsmanship and melodic charm. We find all these qualities and an underlying accessibility that is so artful, and yet so transparent. There are no hurdles over which people have to jump in order to connect with the music."
Despite being pigeonholed in Utah for his arrangements of such hymns as "Come, Come, Ye Saints," Wilberg has long written and arranged music not specific to his LDS heritage. His broad appeal in the United States is witnessed by use of his music on significant national occasions: the funerals of Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"I try to write music that honors my own heritage, but appeals to faithful people of all types," said Wilberg. "That's also the mission of the Tabernacle Choir, to appeal not just to members of the church, but to everyone."
It's not so surprising, then, that Wilberg's latest piece is a Requiem - based on the Roman Catholic Mass for the dead - although there is no liturgical use of Requiem texts in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Wilberg said his Requiem has a broader definition and means to honor the dead while comforting the living.
"A Requiem does not have to do with any specific church's dogma," he said. "I think it's associated with consolation and solace."
The new Requiem is written for chorus, baritone, soprano and string orchestra with horns, flutes and harp. It uses two traditional texts - "Requiem aeternam" (Latin for "eternal rest") and "Kyrie eleison" (Greek for "Lord have mercy") - along with another Latin liturgical text, "O nata lux" (O Jesus Born of Light).
The remainder is in English and includes psalms such as "I will lift up mine eyes," "How lovely is thy dwelling place" and "The Lord is my shepherd." A passage from the Gospel of John is also used: "I am the resurrection and the life."
Wilberg describes the setting as "very different" from the music most Utahns associate with him. The mood, he said, is "contemplative, not bombastic at all."
Wilberg, who grew up in rural Emery County, is known for his quiet demeanor and self-effacing personality. Jessop, however, gave a more extroverted assessment of the Requiem.
"It's hauntingly beautiful and serene," he said. "In some ways, it compels you to leave this hustle-bustle world and lulls you into deep serenity and introspection. There is nothing in it like the 'Dies Irae' movement of some Requiems that scares the heck out of you with fire and damnation. Rather, it is one of hope, of introspection and consolation."
Jessop has even higher praise for his friend and colleague.
"Mack Wilberg is the single most talented musician I've ever been around," he said. "He is a sort of Johann Sebastian Bach. He does it all: concert pianist, organist, composer, arranger and conductor.
"We look at composers like Bach and Mozart and are just astounded at the amount of music they produced in their lifetimes," Jessop continued. "I look at Mack and see the same thing. It's just a fountain that springs forth. . . . A Mack Wilberg doesn't come around very often. Once a century, if that."
World premiere on Temple Square
* A NEW REQUIEM by Utah composer Mack Wilberg has its world premiere at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Temple Square Chorale and Orchestra at Temple Square perform with soprano Laura Garff Lewis and baritone Tyler Oliphant. Craig Jessop conducts.
* THE CHORALE AND ORCHESTRA also will perform the Mozart Requiem, conducted by Wilberg and with soprano Kiera Duffy, mezzo Stacey Rishoi, tenor Chad Shelton and baritone Morris Robinson. Free tickets have already been distributed, but standby seating may be available.
