The Oklahoma Requiem was begun on September 3, 2000, shortly after I had completed the first movement of my Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, a work from which I borrowed a theme for the present work, which was completed on December 16, 2000. Originally written for wordless 6-part a capella chorus, it was arranged for brass choir at the request of James L. Klages, who conducted its premiere at a festival of my music on February 20, 2001. As a requiem for the 168 individuals massacred in this horrific bombing, the worst act of terrorism in the US up until that time, the mood of the piece is quite somber, albeit ending on a note of optimism. Throughout the work is a recurring motif which will resemble to some ears the so-called Dresden Amen. The composer also conceived the piece as a kind of vocal (and now, brass) companion piece to Samuel Barber's well-known Adagio for Strings. In light of the subsequent devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I have extended the dedication, not only to the 168 persons killed in the Murrah Federal Building, but to all those whose lives have been snuffed out in terrorist acts.
