Contrapunctus

Giuseppe Verdi / III. Romanticism

Messa da Requiem

1874 · Soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, chorus and orchestra

First performed in San Marco, Milan, on the anniversary of Manzoni’s death. The Libera me grew from Verdi’s contribution to an earlier, unrealised memorial for Rossini.

2 min

Recording

  1. Dies irae — opening number of the sequenceOrchestra and Choir of Teatro Reale dell’Opera di Roma (current Commons attribution; disputed) · 1900–⁠1950
    2:02

    This is the opening number of the Dies irae sequence in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. It begins with four orchestral blows, and the chorus moves from a full-throated cry to a murmur.

    Listening notes · joins
    1. Opening of the Dies irae

      Four separated G minor chords come before the rushing strings and the chorus’s cry, “Dies irae” (“Day of wrath”). Verdi marks the movement Allegro agitato. The bass drum strokes fall across the beat, and the orchestral runs continue under the voices with few breaks.

    2. First performance, Milan, 1874

      Verdi conducted his Requiem for the writer Alessandro Manzoni at the church of San Marco in Milan on 22 May 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death. Three days later the same singers performed the work at La Scala.

    3. Requiem for Rossini, 1868–⁠1869

      After Rossini’s death in 1868, Verdi proposed a Requiem shared among Italian composers and wrote its last number, the Libera me. The performance, planned for 13 November 1869, never took place. In 1871 he told an admirer: “There are so many, many Masses for the Dead.”

    4. Quantus tremor, chorus sotto voce

      “Quantus tremor est futurus” — “How great the trembling will be.” The chorus repeats its notes pp, marked sotto voce. Violins and cellos alternate short runs above pizzicato violas and basses.

    Joins

    1. Diminuendo to separate pp cupo entries

      The bass holds G while the orchestral chords diminuendo. The brass stop. Clarinet and bassoon continue their scales. The choral parts enter separately, marked Soli and pp cupo (darkly), and repeat “Dies irae” above the strings. Up to this point the full chorus has sung the words together.

    2. Pizzicato strings and the “Quantus tremor” entry

      Violas and basses play pizzicato, and violins and cellos alternate short upward runs. Low brass hold sustained notes beneath short woodwind chords. The chorus enters pp sotto voce on “Quantus tremor”, repeating syllables over the moving accompaniment.

    Open in the Concert Hall

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