Requiem

any piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person or persons. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Word origin. C14: from Latin requiēs rest, from the opening of the introit, Requiem aeternam dona eis Rest eternal grant unto them.

A Requiem Mass, sometimes known as the Mass for the dead, is a mass used in a liturgical context to offer repose for the soul of a deceased party, often in a funeral setting.

A requiem is a religious ceremony performed for the dead. A requiem, or dirge, can also be a piece of music used for this ceremony or in any other context honoring those who have died.

The Requiem most commonly uses the Introit, Kyrie, Gradual, Tract, the Sequence Dies Irae, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Communion. These sections are variable, however, and composers have always felt free to omit and add sections according to their needs.

A Requiem is a Catholic mass for the dead, originally intended for funeral services. The name comes from the first line: 'Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine' - 'Grant them eternal rest, Lord'. However, the Requiem Mass has inspired many musical compositions over the centuries - over 2,000 to the present day!

As a Catholic, Mozart would have attended many requiems – church services for the peaceful repose of the dead. This Christian funeral rite asks an all-powerful God to accept a human soul into heaven. Mozart set this liturgical text to music for a patron who had lost his young wife to illness earlier that year.

"Requiem" means "peace" or "rest" - nouns which have no plural.

They met at the church on certain holy days to attend requiem services for deceased members and to settle urgent matters.

Requiem is also used to describe any sacred composition that sets to music religious texts which would be appropriate at a funeral, or to describe such compositions for liturgies other than the Roman Catholic Mass.

Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem, 'Dies Irae' The Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) is the best known movement from the Requiem and displays a distinctive chaotic theatricality. After Mozart's requiem, it has been said that Verdi's requiem is the second most performed choral piece of recent times.

The Requiem Mass is also known as the Missa pro defunctis (Mass for the dead). It is often celebrated as part of a funeral but is also performed as in non-religious contexts as concert music as well.

Mozart's swansong Mozart's Requiem may be called a musical "blockbuster" and the mysterious context surrounding its creation has largely contributed to its legendary status. The virtuosic composer died as he was composing it, at the young age of 35.