On the Death of the Righteous is a composition for choir and orchestra set to the text of John Donne by the American composer Jennifer Higdon.
Coming upon Mr. Donne's sermons, I discovered a particular text that describes the non-judgmental quality of a death of one who is righteous... this seemed an appropriate emotional angle to precede a requiem.
Reviewing the world premiere, Daniel Webster of The Philadelphia Inquirer lauded, "Higdon faced a huge problem: How to compete with Verdi?
Webster added, "In a sense she did not compete, but found in John Donne's serene musing on death the basis for another mood, another kind of music.
"[2] Reviewing a later recording of the piece, Olivia Giovetti of WQXR-FM similarly wrote:In Jennifer Higdon's album-opening On the Death of the Righteous, you hear echoes of Verdian splendor with Britten-like modesty, unsurprising on both counts as Higdon wrote the work to accompany the former's Requiem and set it to the text of John Donne, a favorite source material for the latter.