Verdi: Requiem
PROGRAMME NOTES
written by AURÉLIE WALSCHAERT
Giuseppe Verdi Messa da Requiem (1874)
with Louise Foor (soprano), Estelle Defalque (mezzo soprano), Denzil Delaere (tenor), Alexandre Duhamel (bass)
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26.09.2026 FLAGEY BRUSSELS
27.09.2026 FLAGEY BRUSSELS
Verdi: Requiem
As one of the oldest genres in Western music, the requiem has for centuries marked the ritual passage from life to death. Originally forming part of the Catholic funeral liturgy, it gradually broke free from its religious context during the Romantic era, evolving into both a deeply personal expression and a monumental concert work. Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem is perhaps the quintessential example. In 1874, the Italian composer (1813–1901) transformed the dramatic liturgical texts into a meticulously crafted memorial work of monumental scale, poised between opera and sacred music.
Honouring an Artist and Patriot
Image 1: Alessandro Manzoni
Image 2: Giuseppe Verdi
When Verdi learned of the death of the celebrated Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini on 13 November 1868, he was deeply affected: 'A great name has disappeared from the world! He enjoyed the widest and most popular reputation of our time, and he was Italy's pride! What will remain for us when the other national hero still living [Manzoni] is no longer with us?'
Shortly after Rossini's death, Verdi wrote to his publisher, Ricordi, proposing that Rossini be honoured with a requiem composed collectively by the finest Italian composers of the day. And so it came to pass: thirteen composers, including Verdi himself, each contributed a movement to the Messa per Rossini. The work was intended to receive its première in Bologna on the first anniversary of Rossini's death, but financial, logistical and political obstacles led to the cancellation of the performance. The collective tribute was not heard in public until 1988, when it was finally performed in Stuttgart.
Less than five years later, the event Verdi had so greatly feared came to pass. On 22 May 1873, the Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni died. To Verdi, Manzoni was far more than an eminent author. He was also a committed patriot who fought for the liberation and unification of Italy. Through his many writings – and above all his novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi) – Manzoni helped fuel the Risorgimento, Italy's national movement for renewal and unification. While Manzoni gave voice to these nationalist ideals in literature, Verdi explored comparable social and political themes in operas whose subjects and musical language remained closely connected to ordinary people. Their shared convictions fostered a profound mutual admiration.
Verdi once again took up his pen and wrote to his publisher with the following proposal: 'I, too, should like to bear witness to the affection and reverence I felt – and still feel – for that Great Man who is no longer with us, and who brought such honour to Milan. I should like to compose a Requiem Mass to be performed next year on the anniversary of his death. The work would be on a fairly grand scale, requiring, in addition to a large orchestra and chorus, four or five soloists. The copying of the score may be done at my own expense, and I shall conduct the performance myself, both in rehearsal and in church.'
Verdi's publisher and the Milan city authorities immediately approved the proposal, and the composer set to work.
Sacred Music or Opera?
From the outset, Verdi conceived his Requiem as a concert work rather than a composition intended for liturgical use. The only elements he borrowed from the Catholic liturgy were its structure and the texts of the Mass for the Dead. The result is a seven-part interplay of contrasting timbres and textures. Between the hushed, deeply moving prayers for eternal rest that frame the opening movement and the closing Libera me, the emotional intensity rises to extraordinary heights, driven by powerful homophonic choral writing and a formidable brass section. The unmistakable climax comes in the terrifying Dies irae, in which Verdi transforms the apocalyptic imagery into a fully fledged operatic drama unfolding across a series of vividly theatrical scenes.
Verdi's Messa da Requiem is monumental not only in its dramatic scope and duration – a typical performance lasts around ninety minutes – but also in its scale, requiring some two hundred performers on stage. It was partly for this reason that Verdi chose Milan's Church of San Marco for the première, as it offered sufficient space for the 225 musicians involved. What he had not anticipated, however, was the overwhelming public interest. So many people attended the première on 22 May 1874 that part of the audience had to follow the performance from outside the church. Following its successful première, three further performances were immediately scheduled at La Scala in Milan, and the work soon achieved widespread acclaim throughout Italy and far beyond.
Yet not everyone was convinced. Could a popular opera composer who openly distanced himself from the Catholic faith truly write music for such a profoundly sacred genre? The German conductor Hans von Bülow certainly thought not, dismissing the work as 'Verdi's latest opera, only in ecclesiastical dress.' Johannes Brahms swiftly came to the composer's defence: 'Bülow has made a fool of himself … Only a genius could have written such a work.' The music critic Eduard Hanslick likewise entered the debate, devoting an entire article to the subject. He argued that even a liturgical text with centuries of tradition could serve as the basis for an autonomous work of art, whose artistic value should be judged independently of the context in which its text originated. 'In the concert halls of Paris, London and Vienna, Verdi presented his work to the congregation for whom it was truly intended – the musical community,' Hanslick observed.
