However, further reflection led me to change my mind; I had come to feel that some tragedies were too enormous to consecrate with anything more than deep but silent grieving and that to turn this piece into a '9/11 work' might even smack a bit of opportunism.
It is my hope that my Requiem will, in the end, provide some sort of solace, and for this reason I have interspersed near the conclusion verses from the Anglican hymn 'Now the Laborer's Task is O'er' (death) with lines from 'Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen' (i.e., 'Lo!
"[3] George Grella of the New York Classical Review called the piece "fascinating, massive, ungainly, often moving, sometimes unhinged: if not a completely successful composition, at least an impressive showcase for musicians and composer’s craft alike.
Mr. Imbrailo’s limpid and smoothly flowing rendition of Jonson’s 'Farewell, thou child of my right hand' was joined by a fleeting, radiant flute solo.
And when the Brooklyn Youth Chorus entered with the Marian hymn 'Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,' sung with a gleaming, pure sound from a side balcony, the effect was powerfully emotional, even as it skirted the fine line between pathos and kitsch.