The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral Mass (called the Requiem from the first word of the text, which begins Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, meaning, "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord"—see the entry at "Dies Irae"). It was first performed on 22 May 1874 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The piece is also someti...
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The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral Mass (called the Requiem from the first word of the text, which begins Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, meaning, "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord"—see the entry at "Dies Irae"). It was first performed on 22 May 1874 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The piece is also sometimes referred to as the Manzoni Requiem. A typical performance takes around 85–90 minutes.
The Requiem is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (third flute doubling on piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, eight trumpets (four of which play from offstage during the Tuba mirum), three trombones, one ophicleide (an obsolete instrument usually replaced by a tuba in modern performances), timpani, bass drum, and strings.
There is also a quartet of solo singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass), as...
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