verdi’s requiem …

… “Giuseppe Verdi spent his life scrutinizing the human heart; in his works he shed light on the drama of the human condition with the music, the stories told and the various figures. His theatre is peopled by the unhappy, the persecuted and victims. This tragic vision of human destiny echoes throughout so many passages of the Requiem Mass. Here we touch on the inevitable reality of death and the fundamental question of the transcendent world; and Verdi, free from theatrical elements, represents, with the words of the Catholic Liturgy and with music alone, the range of human sentiments in the face of life’s conclusion: the human being’s anguish in confronting his own frail nature, his sense of rebellion as he faces death, his consternation on the threshold of eternity. This music invites reflection on the last realities with all the moods of the human heart in a series of contrasting forms, registers and colours, in which dramatic and melodious moments alternate, marked by hope.”(Benedict XVI after hearing the requiem recently)

listen to two key movements of the requiem

the requiem was written for Alessandro Manzoni author of The Betrothed