Film
composer Stephen Edwards scored the original Scott Adkins Ninja, as well as Bloodsport
II and III. That is what we call
some serious movie magic, but it maybe isn’t his most personal work. For
obvious reasons, the Catholic requiem he composed for his beloved late mother
is the piece Edwards hopes to be remembered for. Edwards and co-director David
Haugland explain its inspiration and document its world premiere in Requiem for My Mother (trailer here), which airs this afternoon
on many PBS stations.
First-generation
Sicilian-American Rosalie Edwards was sort of the Sophia Loren of Michigan. In
between winning local beauty pageants, Edwards earned a master’s degree in
education and commenced a long career as a music teacher and chorale director. The
entire Edwards family took her loss hard, but it was especially devastating to
Edwards. However, he was able to channel his grief into her mass.
The
stakes increased dramatically for the cathartic project, when his friend and
colleague, conductor Candace Wicke arranges for a world premiere in the
Basilica of St. Ignatius of Loyola to be broadcast on RAI television and
Vatican Radio. Suddenly, Edwards is arranging logistics schlepping both an
adult and children’s choir to Rome, where they will have only one full
rehearsal with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Meanwhile, he
continues to struggle with the requisite Dies
Irae movement (you’ll recognize Verdi’s thunderous version, for a point of
comparison).
Throughout
the doc, Edwards comes across as an earnest and genuine person, while his
talent is undeniable. In contrast, Wicke often seems like stern taskmaster, but
Edwards probably needed someone like that to realize his project. As a work of
cinema, Requiem has the feeling of a “making
of” special, but it translates well to the small screen. Frankly, it is exactly
the sort of programming PBS should schedule more frequently. It is a nice story
and a soaring piece of music that will not get a lot of coverage from the rest
of the press release-transcribing entertainment media.