"Ukrainian War Requiem" by Benedict Sheehan: to the Third Anniversary of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Keywords:
Requiem, Benedict Sheehan, theme of death, war, liturgical canon, liturgy, funeral massAbstract
The article analyses a significant artefact in the context of the current historical situation — Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. For the first time, the work, concept, intonational plot, structure, and conditions of performance of the Ukrainian War Requiem by American composer Benedict Sheehan, who is of Western European origin, are examined as an event of global significance that has engraved the tragedy of the present day in history — the few victims of brave soldiers and civilians of Ukraine during Ukraine's struggle against totalitarianism — into history. In the context of the requiem — a genre with a normative extra-musical basis — this problem seems unique. (As is well known, the problem of the interaction between the extra-musical and musical spheres is one of the leading problems of musicology). The most promising aspect in this regard seems to be the further study of specific requiem artefacts, whose applied function is closely linked to contemporary historical events.
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