A Mass by Van der Graaf Generator co-founder Judge Smith to be premiered 50 years after it was written

A mass written by Van der Graaf Generator founding member Judge Smith 50 years ago is to be performed live for the very first time.

Smith’s Requiem Mass will receive its live premiere at the Holy Sepulchre Church, Holborn in London on July 12.

Smith discussed the project when he was the subject of The Prog Interview in issue 159. The mass is a 30-minute piece – which features a large choir plus baritone soloist, an eight-piece brass section, pipe organ, and a twin-guitar rock band – in 1973. But as a self-confessed “musical primitive”, it wasn’t until 1975 that a score was produced, with Smith verbally dictating the music note by note to arranger Michael Brand.

“I can’t read or write music, but I’ve always been able to imagine quite complicated music in my head, and in considerable detail,” says Smith. “The hefty scale and strict requirements of creating a new musical setting for the Roman Requiem Mass really appealed to me, because the Mass of the Dead features the medieval poem Dies Irae, rock’n’roll lyrics of the highest order.”

The piece was eventually resurrected and recorded in 2016, having been revised by composer and music professor Ricardo Odriozola, and was conducted by David Temple MBE, and featured the Crouch End Festival Chorus, one of the UK’s major symphonic choirs, who have previously worked with Robert Fripp and David Bedford.

It will now be performed by Temple and the Hertfordshire Chorus, alongside brass, pipe organ and rock band accompaniment.

You can listen to the Mass here.

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Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.

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