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Carlos Simon

Requiem for the Enslaved

Decca Records
Release Date: June 17, 2022

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1 I. invocation  
2 II. lord have mercy (let us go)  
3 kyrie  
4 interlude (Issac ran away)  
5 to be in that number  
6 III. we all found heaven  
7 IV. grant them rest  
8 interlude (i got shoes)  
9 remember me (spoken word interlude)  
10 V. remember me  
11 light everlasting interlude  
12 VI. light everlasting  
13 VII. deliver me  
14 VIII. gloria  
15 IX. shine upon them  
16 X. in paradisium (into paradise) ash  
17 light everlasting (solo piano version)  
18 in paradisium (instrumental version)  
19 we all found heaven (instrumental version)  
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Decca is proud to announce the signing of US composer Carlos Simon and the release of his new album Requiem for the Enslaved. The title work sees Simon infuse the traditional Catholic requiem with music from African American spirituals to create a haunting piece for chamber ensemble and spoken word.

The album’s central piece, Requiem for the Enslaved, with text by Marco Pavé, was commissioned by Georgetown University, where Simon is currently Assistant Professor of Composition, following a decision by its student body in 2020. A majority voted to establish a reparations fund to be paid to descendants of 272 enslaved people who were sold for $115,000 by the Maryland Jesuits, the founders of Georgetown, in 1838 to rescue the university from bankruptcy. This work honors the passing of those people purchased and sold by the founders. Upon receiving the commission, Simon visited the Louisiana cotton plantation that purchased the enslaved people and delved through the Georgetown archives for historical research as he began work on the piece. The album’s cover is inspired by this location.

  • Carlos Simon chats with 89.5Classical Austin
    Posted At: October 31, 2023 12:00 AM
    Carlos Simon is a multi-genre composer and performer who is a passionate advocate for diversity in music. Carlos, whose father wanted him to be a minister, describes music making as a pulpit where he can deliver messages and minister to those listening. As winner of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence 2021 and Composer-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center, he sees himself as a conduit, a vessel used by G...
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  • Carlos Simon chats about 'Requiem for the Enslaved' with 107.5WRUU - Savannah GA
    Posted At: November 9, 2022 12:00 AM
    Decca is proud of their signing of US composer Carlos Simon and the release of his new album Requiem for the Enslaved. The title work sees Simon infuse the traditional Catholic requiem with music from African American spirituals to create a haunting piece for chamber ensemble and spoken word.The album’s central piece, Requiem for the Enslaved, with text by Marco Pavé, was commissioned by Georgetown Universi...
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  • Carlos Simons 'Requiem for the Enslaved' honors the memory of enslaved people / Classical 101 - WOSU
    Posted At: August 15, 2022 12:00 AM
    Classical 101 - WOSU's Jennifer Hambrick writes….In 1838, Maryland Jesuits agreed to sell 272 enslaved people from Maryland plantations to plantations in Louisiana. The Jesuits made the sale in part to raise financial resources to help support their educational institutions, including Georgetown College, later renamed Georgetown University.Georgetown’s role in the 1838 Jesuit Slave Sale was the impetus for ...
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  • Carlos Simon's new work addresses a troubled history for a nation and a university / capradio
    Posted At: July 22, 2022 12:00 AM
    capradio's Jennifer Reason writes…..In 1838, Georgetown University was facing bankruptcy. Their solution? To raise funds by selling 272 enslaved men, women and children of African descent to sugarcane plantations in Louisiana. Composer Carlos Simon is setting out to shed light on this abhorrent event with a new work called, “Requiem for the Enslaved.”Simon is the composer in residence for the Kennedy Center...
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  • Carlos Simon's 'Requiem for the Enslaved' confronts Georgetown University's troubled past / NPR
    Posted At: June 17, 2022 12:00 AM
    Composer Carlos Simon's Requiem for the Enslaved, commissioned by Georgetown University, is a reckoning with the school's troubled history.Heard on All Things Considered, NPR's Tom Huizenga writes…Carlos Simon is a young composer on the rise, with an ear for social justice. His best known work so far, Elegy, is a string quartet in honor of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Next year, a large-sc...
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  • Carlos Simon releases: 'Requiem for the Enslaved' in time for Juneteenth / Classical 91.5WXXI
    Posted At: June 17, 2022 12:00 AM
    Decca's signing of US composer Carlos Simon and the release of his new album Requiem for the Enslaved, sees Simon infuse the traditional Catholic requiem with music from African American spirituals to create a haunting piece for chamber ensemble and spoken word.The album’s central piece, Requiem for the Enslaved, with text by Marco Pavé, was commissioned by Georgetown University, where Simon is currently As...
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  • Georgetown music professor releases: Requiem for the Enslaved for Juneteenth / WTOP
    Posted At: June 16, 2022 12:00 AM
    WTOP's Jason Fraley writes….In 2017, Georgetown University formally apologized for participating in the slave trade. This Friday, University music professor and Kennedy Center resident artist Carlos Simon drops his streaming album “Requiem for the Enslaved” ahead of Juneteenth. “The piece is dedicated to these men and women who were sold as property by the Jesuits who founded Georgetown University,” Simon t...
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