Music for the Requiem Mass is any music that accompanies the

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

, or Mass for the Dead, in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. This church service has inspired hundreds of compositions, including settings by Victoria,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

, Fauré, Dvořák, Duruflé and Britten. For centuries settings of the Mass for the Dead were to be chanted in

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

service monophonically. Later the settings became

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

, Victoria's famous 1605 ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' work being an example. By Mozart's time (1791) it was standard to embed the dramatic and long Day of Wrath sequence, and to score with

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

. Eventually many settings of the Requiem, not least Verdi's (1874), were essentially concert pieces unsuitable for church service.

Common texts

The following are the texts that have been set to music. Note that the ''Libera Me'' and the ''In Paradisum'' are not part of the text of the Catholic Mass for the Dead itself, but a part of the burial rite that immediately follows. ''In Paradisum'' was traditionally said or sung as the body left the church, and the ''Libera Me'' is said/sung at the burial site before interment. These became included in musical settings of the Requiem in the 19th century as composers began to treat the form more liberally.

Introit

From

4 Esdras 2 Esdras, also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra, is an apocalyptic book in some English versions of the Bible. Tradition ascribes it to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the fifth century BC, whom the book identifies with the sixth-ce ...

2:34–35; Psalm 65:1-2 ::''Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:'' ::''et lux perpetua luceat eis.'' ::''Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,'' ::''et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem:'' ::''exaudi orationem meam,'' ::''ad te omnis caro veniet.'' ::''Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:'' ::''et lux perpetua luceat eis.'' :::Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, :::and let perpetual light shine upon them. :::A hymn, O God, becometh Thee in

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

; :::and a vow shall be paid to Thee in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

: :::hear my prayer; :::all flesh shall come to Thee. :::Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, :::and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Kyrie eleison

This is as the

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

in the Ordinary of the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

: ::''Kyrie, eleison.'' ::''Christe, eleison.'' ::''Kyrie, eleison.'' :::Lord, have mercy. :::Christ, have mercy. :::Lord, have mercy. This is

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(Κύριε ἐλέησον, Χριστὲ ἐλέησον, Κύριε ἐλέησον). Each utterance is sung three times, though sometimes that is not the case when sung polyphonically.

Gradual

From 4 Esdras 2:34–35; Psalm 112:6 ::''Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:'' ::''et lux perpetua luceat eis.'' ::''In memoria æterna erit iustus:'' ::''ab auditione mala non timebit.'' :::Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord; :::and let perpetual light shine upon them. :::The just shall be in everlasting remembrance; :::he shall not fear the evil hearing.

Tract

::''Absolve, Domine,'' ::''animas omnium fidelium defunctorum'' ::''ab omni vinculo delictorum.'' ::''Et gratia tua illis succurrente,'' ::''mereantur evadere iudicium ultionis.'' ::''Et lucis æternae beatitudine perfrui.'' :::Absolve, O Lord, :::the souls of all the faithful departed :::from every bond of sin. :::And by the help of Thy grace :::may they be enabled to escape the avenging judgment. :::And enjoy the bliss of everlasting light.

Sequence

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

is a liturgical poem sung, when used, after the Tract (or Alleluia, if present). The sequence employed in the Requiem, ''Dies irae'', attributed to Thomas of Celano (c. 1200 – c. 1260–1270), has been called "the greatest of hymns", worthy of "supreme admiration". The Latin text is included in the Requiem Mass in the

1962 Roman Missal The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in 1 ...

. An early English version was translated by William Josiah Irons in 1849.

Offertory

::''Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriæ,'' ::''libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum'' ::''de pœnis inferni et de profundo lacu:'' ::''libera eas de ore leonis,'' ::''ne absorbeat eas tartarus,'' ::''ne cadant in obscurum:'' ::''sed signifer sanctus Michael'' ::''repræsentet eas in lucem sanctam:'' ::''Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti, et semini eius.'' :::Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, :::deliver the souls of all the faithful departed :::from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit: :::deliver them from the lion's mouth, :::that

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; ) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's '' Gorgias'' (), souls are judged after ...

swallow them not up, :::that they fall not into darkness, :::but let the standard-bearer holy

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

:::lead them into that holy light: :::Which Thou didst promise of old to

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

and to his seed. ::''Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,'' ::''laudis offerimus:'' ::''tu suscipe pro animabus illis,'' ::''quarum hodie memoriam facimus:'' ::''fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam.'' ::''Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti, et semini eius.'' :::We offer to Thee, O Lord, :::sacrifices and prayers: :::do Thou receive them in behalf of those souls :::of whom we make memorial this day. :::Grant them, O Lord, to pass from death to that life, :::Which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed.

Sanctus

This is as the ''

Sanctus The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thr ...

'' prayer in the Ordinary of the

: ::''Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus'' ::''Dominus Deus Sabaoth.'' ::''Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua.'' ::''Hosanna in excelsis.'' ::''Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.'' ::''Hosanna in excelsis.'' :::Holy, holy, holy, :::Lord God of Hosts. :::Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. :::Hosanna in the highest. :::Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord. :::Hosanna in the highest.

Agnus Dei

This is as the ''

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a spec ...

'' in the Ordinary of the

, but with the petitions ''miserere nobis'' changed to ''dona eis requiem'', and ''dona nobis pacem'' to ''dona eis requiem sempiternam'':

Lux æterna

::''Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine:'' ::''Cum Sanctis tuis in æternum:'' ::''quia pius es.'' ::''Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:'' ::''et lux perpetua luceat eis.'' ::''Cum Sanctis tuis in æternum:'' :: ''quia pius es.'' :::May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, :::with Thy

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s for evermore: :::for Thou art gracious. :::Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, :::and let perpetual light shine upon them: :::With Thy

s for evermore, :::for Thou art gracious. As mentioned above, there is no ''Gloria'', ''Alleluia'' or Credo in these musical settings.

Pie Jesu

Some text extracts have been set to music independently, such as the ''Pie Jesu'' in the settings of Fauré (1880s), Dvořák (1890s), Duruflé (1940s) and Rutter (later). ''Pie Jesu'' are late words in the ''Dies irae'' and they are followed by the final words of the ''Agnus Dei'': ::''Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.'' ::''Dona eis requiem sempiternam.'' ::: Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest; ::: grant them eternal rest. Settings sometimes include passages from the "Absolution at the bier" (''Absolutio ad feretrum'') or "Commendation of the dead person" (referred to also as the Absolution of the dead), which in the case of a funeral, follows the conclusion of the Mass.

Libera me

::''Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda:'' ::''Quando cæli movendi sunt et terra:'' ::''Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.'' ::''Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.'' ::''Quando cæli movendi sunt et terra.'' ::''Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde.'' ::''Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.'' ::''Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.'' ::: Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal in that awful day. ::: When the heavens and the earth shall be moved: ::: When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. ::: Dread and trembling have laid hold on me, and I fear exceedingly because of the judgment and of the wrath to come. ::: When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. ::: O that day, that day of wrath, of sore distress and of all wretchedness, that great day and exceeding bitter. ::: When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. ::: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

In paradisum

::''In paradisum deducant te Angeli:'' ::''in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,'' ::''et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.'' ::''Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,'' ::''et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.'' ::: May the Angels lead thee into paradise: ::: may the Martyrs receive thee at thy coming, ::: and lead thee into the holy city of Jerusalem. ::: May the choir of Angels receive thee, ::: and with

Lazarus Lazarus may refer to: People *Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name * Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus * Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus * Lazar ...

, who once was poor, mayest thou have eternal rest.

History of musical compositions

For many centuries the texts of the requiem were sung to Gregorian melodies. The

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colle ...

, written sometime in the later half of the 15th century, is the earliest surviving

setting. There was a setting by the elder composer

Guillaume Du Fay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...

, possibly earlier, which is now lost: Ockeghem's may have been modelled on it.Fabrice Fitch: "Requiem (2)", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 21, 2007) Many early compositions employ different texts that were in use in different liturgies around Europe before the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

set down the texts given above. The requiem of Brumel, circa 1500, is the first to include the '' Dies Iræ''. In the early polyphonic settings of the Requiem, there is considerable textural contrast within the compositions themselves: simple chordal or

fauxbourdon Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – Music of France, French for ''false drone'' – is a technique of musical harmony, harmonisation used in the late Medieval ...

-like passages are contrasted with other sections of contrapuntal complexity, such as in the Offertory of Ockeghem's Requiem. In the 16th century, more and more composers set the Requiem mass. In contrast to practice in setting the Mass Ordinary, many of these settings used a cantus-firmus technique, something which had become quite archaic by mid-century. In addition, these settings used less textural contrast than the early settings by Ockeghem and Brumel, although the vocal scoring was often richer, for example in the six-voice Requiem by Jean Richafort which he wrote for the death of

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

. Other composers before 1550 include

Pedro de Escobar Pedro de Escobar (c. 1465 – after 1535), a.k.a. ''Pedro do Porto'', was a Portuguese composer of the Renaissance, mostly active in Spain. He was one of the earliest and most skilled composers of polyphony in the Iberian Peninsula, whose mu ...

, Antoine de Févin, Cristóbal de Morales, and

Pierre de la Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...

; that by la Rue is probably the second oldest, after Ockeghem's. Over 2,000 Requiem compositions have been composed to the present day. Typically the Renaissance settings, especially those not written on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, may be performed ''

'' (i.e. without necessary accompanying instrumental parts), whereas beginning around 1600 composers more often preferred to use instruments to accompany a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, and also include vocal soloists. There is great variation between compositions in how much of liturgical text is set to music. Most composers omit sections of the liturgical prescription, most frequently the Gradual and the Tract. Fauré omits the ''Dies iræ'', while the very same text had often been set by French composers in previous centuries as a stand-alone work. Sometimes composers divide an item of the liturgical text into two or more movements; because of the length of its text, the ''Dies iræ'' is the most frequently divided section of the text (as with Mozart, for instance). The ''Introit'' and ''Kyrie'', being immediately adjacent in the actual Roman Catholic liturgy, are often composed as one movement. Musico-thematic relationships among movements within a Requiem can be found as well.

Requiem in concert

Beginning in the 18th century and continuing through the 19th, many composers wrote what are effectively concert works, which by virtue of employing forces too large, or lasting such a considerable duration, prevent them being readily used in an ordinary funeral service; the requiems of Gossec,

, and Dvořák are essentially dramatic concert

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s. A counter-reaction to this tendency came from the Cecilian movement, which recommended restrained accompaniment for liturgical music, and frowned upon the use of operatic vocal soloists.

Notable compositions

Many composers have composed a Requiem. Some of the most notable include the following (in chronological order): * Ockeghem:

, the earliest to survive, written in the mid-to-late 15th century * Morales: Two notable requiems: '' Officium defunctorum'' (ca. 1526–28) and ''Missa pro defunctis'' (1544). *

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

: Requiem (Missa pro defunctis), 1582. * Victoria: Requiem of 1603 (part of a longer

Office of the Dead The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper ...

) * Zelenka: Requiem in D minor, ZWV 48 After

Augustus the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the ...

Circa 1730 *

, K. 626 (1791: Mozart died before its completion; Franz Xaver Süssmayr's completion is often used) * Salieri: ''Requiem'' (1804) (played at his funeral on May 7, 1825) * Cherubini: Requiem in C minor (1815) and Requiem in D minor (1836) *

: '' Grande Messe des morts'' (1837) *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, Op. 148 (1852) *

: '' Messa da Requiem'' (1874) * Saint-Saëns: '' Messe de Requiem'' (1878) * Dvořák:

, Op. 89 (1890) * Fauré:

, Op. 48 (1890) * Delius:

(1916) * Duruflé:

, Op. 9, based almost exclusively on the chants from the Graduale Romanum (1947) * Britten: ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the Englis ...

'', Op. 66, which incorporated poems by

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...

(1962) *

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

: '' Requiem Canticles'' (1966) * Penderecki: '' Polish Requiem'' (1984, revised 1993 and 2005) * Lloyd Webber:

(1985) * Rutter:

, includes

Psalm 130 Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the penitential psalms and one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot). The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or ...

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and ...

and words from the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

(1985) * Wilberg:

(2008)

Other composers

Renaissance

Giovanni Francesco Anerio Giovanni Francesco Anerio (7 July 1569 - 11 June 1630) was an Italian composer of the Roman School, of the very late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was the younger brother of Felice Anerio. Giovanni's principal importance in music hist ...

* Gianmatteo Asola * Giulio Belli *

Antoine Brumel Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish School, Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of t ...

* Manuel Cardoso * Joan Cererols *

Pierre Certon Pierre Certon (ca. 1510–1520 – 23 February 1572) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was a representative of the generation after Josquin and Mouton, and was influential in the late development of the French chanson. Life Most likely ...

Jacob Clemens non Papa Jacobus Clemens non Papa (also Jacques Clément or Jacob Clemens non Papa) ( – 1555 or 1556) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance based for most of his life in Flanders. He was a prolific composer in many of the current styles, and w ...

(lost) *

* Antoine de Févin * Francisco Guerrero * Jacobus de Kerle *

Orlando di Lasso Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...

Duarte Lobo Duarte Lobo (c. 1565 – 24 September 1646; Latinized as ''Eduardus Lupus'') was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He was one of the most famous Portuguese composers of the time, together with Filipe de Magalhãe ...

* Jean Maillard * Jacques Mauduit *

Manuel Mendes Manuel Mendes (or Manoel Mendes; c. 1547 – 24 September 1605) was a Portuguese composer and teacher of the Renaissance. While his music remains obscure, he was important as the teacher of several of the composers of the golden age of Portu ...

* Cristóbal de Morales *

(the earliest to survive) *

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de V ...

* Pietro Pontio (2 for four voices—both incomplete—and one for five low voices) *

Costanzo Porta Costanzo Porta (1528 or 1529 – 19 May 1601) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, and a representative of what is known today as the Venetian School. He was highly praised throughout his life both as a composer and a teacher, and had ...

* Johannes Prioris * Jean Richafort *

* Pedro Ruimonte * Claudin de Sermisy * Jacobus Vaet *

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Re ...

Baroque

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He received his early musical training from his father, and later from his half-brother, Carl ...

(1757) * Steffano Bernardi (1628) *

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber correctly ''Biber von Bibern'' ( bapt. 12 August 1644, Stráž pod Ralskem – 3 May 1704, Salzburg) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left ...

(1691) * Carl Heinrich Biber (H.I.F. Biber's son, 1740) *

Antonio Caldara Antonio Caldara ( – 28 December 1736) was an Italian Baroque composer. Life Caldara was born in Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probab ...

(1723) *

André Campra André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' trag ...

(1725) *

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading op ...

(1672) *

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

H.2, H.7, H.10, H.12, H.234 (1670 - 1690) *

Francesco Durante Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Best known for his church music, he was also an important teacher, instructing Niccolò Jommelli, Giovanni Paisiello, Giovanni Battista P ...

(1738 in G minor, 1746 in C minor) *

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which ha ...

(Kaiserrequiem, 1720) * Jean Gilles (1705) * Johann David Heinichen (1726) *

Johann Caspar Kerll Johann Caspar Kerll (9 April 1627 – 13 February 1693) was a German Baroque composer and organist. He is also known as Kerl, Gherl, Giovanni Gasparo Cherll and Gaspard Kerle. Born in Adorf in the Electorate of Saxony as the son of an organist, ...

(1689) *

(1639) *

Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was ''Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti be ...

(Requiem in F Major) (1715) *

Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of the noble Marcello family and in his composit ...

(Requiem in the Venetian Manner, 1729) *

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

(lost) *

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...

Johann Rosenmüller Johann Rosenmüller (1619 – 10 September 1684) was a German Baroque music, Baroque composer, who played a part in transmitting Italian musical styles to the north. Career Rosenmüller was born in Oelsnitz, Vogtland, Oelsnitz, near Plauen in El ...

(1660) * Bonaventura Rubino (1653) *

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

(Musikalische Exequien, 1636) * Andrzej Siewiński * Philippus van Steelant (Antwerp Requiem, 1650) * František Tůma (1742) *

Jan Dismas Zelenka Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Bohemian composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint. Zelenka was ...

(1733)

Classical period

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, widely regarded as one of the leading figures in counterpoint and composition theory during the Classical period. He was a prol ...

* Franz Joseph Aumann *

(1757) *

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Music of Italy, Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il ...

(1787) *

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer and violinist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart. (webpage has a translation button) His best-known works include the German singspiel '' Doktor un ...

(1784) * Joseph Leopold Eybler (1803) *

(1720) *

Florian Leopold Gassmann Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of ''dramma giocoso'' immediat ...

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (; 17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French ...

(1760) * Johann Adolf Hasse (1763) *

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

(1771) * Amandus Ivanschiz *

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

(1756) * Józef Kozłowski (1798) * Joseph Martin Kraus (1775) *

Andrea Luchesi Andrea Luca Luchesi (also spelled Lucchesi; 23 May 1741 – 21 March 1801) was an Italian composer. He knew Mozart and Beethoven. Biography Andrea Luchesi was born at Motta di Livenza, near Treviso the eleventh child of Pietro Luchese and Cat ...

(1771) *

Giovanni Battista Martini Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period and a mentor to Mozart ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

(1791) * Georg von Pasterwitz * Giovanni Platti (1752) * Ignaz Pleyel *

Anton Reicha Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalization, naturalized French composer and music theorist. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Ludwig van Be ...

(1805) *

Franz Xaver Richter Franz ( Czech: František) Xaver Richter, known as ''François Xavier Richter'' in France (December 1, 1709 – September 12, 1789) was an Austro-Moravian singer, violinist, composer, conductor and music theoretician who spent most of his life ...

(1789) *

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

(1805) *

Václav Tomášek Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (in German: Wenzel Johann Tomaschek; 17 April 1774, Skuteč, Bohemia – 3 April 1850, Prague) was an Austrian-Bohemian, by other accounts a Czech composer and music teacher. He was known as the Musical Pope of Prag ...

Georg Joseph Vogler Georg Joseph Vogler, also known as Abbé Vogler (15 June 1749 – 6 May 1814), was a German composer, organist, teacher and theorist. In a long and colorful career extending over many more nations and decades than was usual at the time, Vogler e ...

(1808) * Jan Zach (1762)

Romantic era

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

(1837) * João Domingos Bomtempo (1820) *

Giovanni Bottesini Giovanni Bottesini (22 December 1821 – 7 July 1889) was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso. Biography Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist ...

(1877) *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

(1865–68) *

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

, '' Requiem in D minor'' (1849) * Alfred Bruneau (1883) *

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...

(For Louis XVI, 1816) * Peter Cornelius (1867) *

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; ; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works an ...

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

: '' Requiem in D minor'' (for Bellini, 1835) * Felix Draeseke (1880-1881) *

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

(1890) *

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

(1888) *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

(1891-93) * Théodore Gouvy (1874) *

Asger Hamerik Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) (April 8, 1843 – July 13, 1923) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period. Aged 80 at time of death. Life and career Born in Frederiksberg (near Copenhagen), he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels G ...

(1887) * Friedrich Kiel (1862) *

Franz Lachner Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 180320 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with Simon Sec ...

(1865) *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

(1871) * Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (For Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette, 1815) *

Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti or Gioa ...

(Requiem breve, 1836) * Sigismund von Neukomm (1815) * José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1816) *

Lorenzo Perosi Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was a ...

(1897) *

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

ntroit only*

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

, '' Hebbel Requiem'' (1916), ''Lateinisches Requiem'' (fragment, 1915) * Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1899) * Antonín Rejcha (1805) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

(1878) *

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

(1852) * Giovanni Sgambati (1901) *

Franz von Suppé Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppé (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A c ...

(1855) *

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

(1896) *

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of musical composition, composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire, to a cultur ...

(John of Damascus, a Russian Requiem, 1883) *

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

(1874) * See also: Messa per Rossini

20th century

Mark Alburger Mark Alburger (born April 2, 1957 in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania; died June 20, 2023 in Vacaville, California) was a San Francisco Bay area composer and conductor. He was the founder and music director of the San Francisco Composer ...

* Malcolm Archer * Max Reger (1915) * Vyacheslav Artyomov (1987) * Osvaldas Balakauskas *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

(1940) *

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, Musical historicism, historicism, Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early lif ...

* Sylvano Bussotti: "Rara Requiem" (1969) *

Pavel Chesnokov Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (Russian: Пáвел Григóрьевич Чеснокóв) (24 October 1877, Voskresensk, Zvenigorodsky Uyezd, Moscow Governorate – 14 March 1944, Moscow, also transliterated ''Tschesnokoff'', ''Tchesnokov'', ...

(1914) * Michel Chion *

Vladimir Dashkevich Vladimir Sergeevich Dashkevich () (born 20 January 1934) is a Russian composer, known mainly for his film music. Originally, he studied chemical technology at Moscow State University of Fine Chemical Technologies, but he later studied music under ...

* James DeMars: " An American Requiem" *

Edison Denisov Edison Vasilievich Denisov (, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called " Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music. Biography Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia. He studied math ...

* Alfred Desenclos (1963) * Felix Draeseke (1910) * Ralph Dunstan *

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

Lorenzo Ferrero Lorenzo Ferrero (; born 1951) is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral, ...

: '' Introito'', part of the ''Requiem per le vittime della mafia'' *

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

Requiem da camera
* John Foulds: "A World Requiem" * Julius Fučík (1915) *

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was name ...

: "Eternal Light: A Requiem" * Sandro Gorli
Requiem
* William Harper *

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

* Frigyes Hidas * Herbert Howells (1932) * Sigurd Islandsmoen (1935) *

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...

(2005) *

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

(1962) *

Volker David Kirchner Volker David Kirchner (25 June 1942 – 4 February 2020) was a German composer and violist. After studies of violin and composition at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory, the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, he ...

* Ståle Kleiberg *

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performa ...

Cyrillus Kreek Cyrillus Kreek (born Karl Ustav Kreek; in Võnnu, Lääne county – 26 March 1962 in Haapsalu) was an Estonian composer.Strimple, Nick (2002''Choral music in the twentieth century'' p. 164. Hal Leonard Corporation. . Kreek studied trombone ...

(1927)
Huub de Lange
*

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen III (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer and teacher. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is professor emeritus of c ...

: "Lux Aeterna" *

Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, conducting, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King' ...

* Kamilló Lendvay *

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

(1965) * Nils Lindberg *

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

(1984) *

Fernando Lopes-Graça Fernando Lopes-Graça (17 December 1906 – 27 November 1994) was a Portuguese composer, conductor and musicologist. Lopes-Graça was born in Tomar, and was influenced by Portuguese popular music, which he also studied, continuing the work of ...

* Roman Maciejewski (1959) *

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (born Bruno Grossato, 21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian composer, conductor and academic teacher. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina M ...

(1946) * Frank Martin:

(1972) * Jean-Christian Michel * Otto Olsson (1903) *

Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, as well as a musicologist and a music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" alon ...

(1968) *

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book") (born 14 February 1960) is an English composer who is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Her principal instrument is the viola. ...

Zbigniew Preisner Zbigniew Preisner (; born 20 May 1955 as Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as we ...

: " Requiem for My Friend" * Aaron Robinson: "An American Requiem" (1997) *

John Rutter Sir John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, R ...

(1985) * Joseph Ryelandt * Shigeaki Saegusa *

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

Valentin Silvestrov Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov (; born 30 September 1937) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist, who plays and writes contemporary classical music. Biography Valentyn Vasylyovych Silvestrov was born on 30 September 1937 in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, th ...

: "Requiem for Larissa" (1999) * Fredrik Sixten (1984) * Robert Steadman *

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

(1966) *

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...

(for string orchestra, 1957) *

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...

(1999) *

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition wi ...

* Richard Wetz (1924) * Malcolm Williamson *

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. Hi ...

: ' (1969)

21st century

* Kim André Arnesen (2013-2014) * Lera Auerbach: "Russian Requiem" * Leonardo Balada: "No-res (Nothing) - An Agnostic Requiem" *

Virgin Black Virgin Black is an Australian symphonic gothic and doom metal band. The band was signed to The End Records (for the United States) and Germany's Massacre Records (for Europe), through which it released four albums and one EP. A fifth album, or ...

: "Requiem Trilogy" * Jamie Brown: "A Cornish Requiem / Requiem Kernewek" *

Ashley Bryan Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was a U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2 ...

: "A Tender Bridge" *

: "Cadman Requiem" * Paul Carr: "Requiem for an Angel" *

Bob Chilcott Robert Chilcott (born 9 April 1955) is a British choir, choral composer, conducting, conductor, and singing, singer, based in Oxfordshire, England. He was a member of the King's Singers from 1985 to 1997, singing tenor. He has been a composer ...

Richard Danielpour Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles. Early life Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jew ...

: "An American Requiem" (2001) *

David Crowder Band David Crowder Band (stylized as David Crowder*Band and The David Crowder*Band) was a six-piece Christian rock and modern worship band from Waco, Texas. Their final album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian and No. 2 on the B ...

: " Give Us Rest" * Bradley Ellingboe * Mohammed Fairouz: "Requiem Mass" * Dan Forrest: " Requiem for the Living" (2013) *

Gabriela Lena Frank Gabriela Lena Frank (born September 1972) is an American pianist and composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Gabriela Lena Frank was born in Berkeley, California, United States. Her father is of Lithuanian Jewish heritage and her mo ...

: "Conquest Requiem" (2017) *

Eliza Gilkyson Eliza Gilkyson (born August 24, 1950, Hollywood, California) is an American folk musician based in Taos, New Mexico.Gilkyson moved her base from Austin, Texas, to Taos in 2020. Gilkyson is a two-time Grammy Award nominee, receiving a nomination ...

, arr. by Craig Hella Johnson: "Requiem" *

: "Eternal Light: A Requiem" (2008) * Steve Gray: "Requiem For Choir and Big Band"
Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko
" IYOV", opera-requiem for prepared piano, cello, drums and voices (2015) * Xia Guan: "Earth Requiem" (2009) *

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer and academic. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbison and Janet German Harbison. The Harbisons ...

(2002) * Patrick Hawes: "Lazarus Requiem" *

Tyzen Hsiao Tyzen Hsiao (; 1 January 1938 – 24 February 2015) was a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese composer of the neo-Romantic school. Many of his vocal works set poems written in Taiwanese Hokkien, the mother tongue of the majority of the island's res ...

: " Ilha Formosa: Requiem for Formosa's Martyrs" *

: "

" (2004) * Rami Khalifé: "Requiem for Beirut" (2013) * Iver Kleive * Fan-Long Ko: "2-28 Requiem" (2008) * Thierry Lancino *

: "

" (2006) * Christopher Rouse * Carl Rütti: "Requiem" (2007) * Kentaro Sato * Alexander Shchetynsky (2004) *

Somtow Sucharitkul S. P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; ; ; born December 30, 1952) is a Thai-American musical composer and conductor, and a science fiction, fantasy, and horror author writing in English as both Somtow Sucha ...

: " A Celtic Requiem" (1969) / "Requiem" (2008) *

António Pinho Vargas António Pinho Vargas (born 15 August 1951 in Vila Nova de Gaia) is a Portuguese composer and pianist specializing in jazz and contemporary music. He has also authored books, essays, and articles on music. Career After earning a degree in histor ...

* Mack Wilberg: "

" (2008)

Requiem by language (other than Latin)

English with Latin *

: ''

'' *

: An American Requiem *

: "Eternal Light" * Patrick Hawes "Lazarus Requiem" *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

: '' When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd: A Requiem for those we love'' * Herbert Howells *

: ''

'' * Fredrik Sixten * Sir Henry Walford Davies "A Short Requiem" (1915) 'In Sacred Memory of all those who have fallen in the war' *

* Mack Wilberg * Aaron Robinson: "A Tender Bridge - An African American Requiem" (2018) Cornish * Jamie Brown: ''A Cornish Requiem / Requiem Kernewek'' Estonian *

: ''Estonian Requiem'' German *

: '' Ein deutsches Requiem'' *

, '' Hebbel Requiem'' *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

French, Greek, with Latin * Thierry Lancino French, English, German with Latin *

Latin and Japanese *

: ''

'' * Hina Sakamoto: ''REQUIEM For the spirits of the victims of the Pacific War'' Latin and German and others *

: Requiem für einen jungen Dichter Latin and Polish *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

: '' Polish Requiem'' *

: '' Requiem for my friend'' Latin and 7th Century Northumbrian *

: ''Cadman Requiem'' Russian * Lera Auerbach – ''Russian Requiem'', on Russian Orthodox sacred text and poetry *

– ''Requiem'' (Text by

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

) * Elena Firsova – ''Requiem'', Op.100 (Text by

) *

Dmitri Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

– ''War Requiem'' (Text by Robert Rozhdestvensky) *

– Cantata ''John of Damascus'', Op.1 (Text by Alexey Tolstoy) Chinese *

– '' Ilha Formosa: Requiem for Formosa's Martyrs'', 2001 (Text by Min-yung Lee, 1994) * Fan-Long Ko – ''2-28 Requiem'', 2008. (Text by Li Kuei-Hsien) * Xia Guan – ''Earth Requiem'', 2009. (Text by Lin Liu, Xiaoming Song) Vietnamese * Mỹ Sơn – ''Bộ lễ Cầu hồn''. Nonlinguistic *

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

's ''Requies: in memoriam'' *

's '' Sinfonia da Requiem'' and

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

's '' Symphonie Liturgique'' use titles from the traditional Requiem as subtitles of movements. * Carlo Forlivesi – Requiem, for 8-channel tapeALM Records ALCD-76 Silenziosa Luna *

– Requiem (instrumental) * Wojciech Kilar ''Requiem Father Kolbe'' * Lansing McLoskey – ''Requiem, v.2.001'' (versions for chamber sextet and orchestra) *

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

– ''Missa Sine Voces'' (instrumental)

Modern treatments

In the 20th century the requiem evolved in several new directions. One offshoot consists of compositions dedicated to the memory of people killed in wartime. These often include extra-liturgical poems of a pacifist or non-liturgical nature; for example, the ''

'' of

juxtaposes the Latin text with the poetry of

's '' Polish Requiem'' includes a traditional Polish hymn within the sequence, and Robert Steadman's ''Mass in Black'' intersperses

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and

prophecies In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divi ...

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Requiem may be regarded as a specific subset of this type. The '' World Requiem'' of John Foulds was written in the aftermath of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and initiated the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

's annual festival of remembrance. Recent requiem works by

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese composers

and Fan-Long Ko follow in this tradition, honouring victims of the

February 28 Incident The February 28 incident (also called the February 28 massacre, the 228 incident, or the 228 massacre) was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan in 1947 that was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang–led nationalist government of the R ...

and subsequent White Terror. Lastly, the 20th century saw the development of the secular Requiem, written for public performance without specific religious observance, such as

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

's ''

'', completed in 1916 and dedicated to "the memory of all young Artists fallen in the war",Corleonis, Adrian
Requiem, for soprano, baritone, double chorus & orchestra, RT ii/8
''All Music Guide'', Retrieved 2011-02-20 and

's ''

'' (Op. 72 – 1962), a setting of a poem written by Robert Rozhdestvensky especially for the composition.Flaxman, Fred.
Controversial Comrade Kabalevsky
''Compact Discoveries with Fred Flaxman'', 2007, Retrieved 2011-02-20; Herbert Howells's unaccompanied ''Requiem'' uses

("The Lord is my shepherd"), Psalm 121 ("I will lift up mine eyes"), "Salvator mundi" ("O Saviour of the world," in English), "Requiem aeternam" (two different settings), and "I heard a voice from heaven." Some composers have written purely instrumental works bearing the title of ''requiem'', as famously exemplified by Britten's '' Sinfonia da Requiem''.

's ''

Das Floß der Medusa ' (''The Raft of the Medusa'') is a 1967 secular oratorio by the German composer Hans Werner Henze. It is regarded as a seminal work in the composer's alignment with left-wing politics. Background Henze wrote it in 1967 to a text by Ernst Schnab ...

'', written in 1968 as a requiem for

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, is properly speaking an

; Henze's

is instrumental but retains the traditional Latin titles for the movements.

's '' Requiem Canticles'' mixes instrumental movements with segments of the "Introit," "Dies irae," "Pie Jesu," and "Libera me."

References

External links

Mozart's "Requiem".
Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Carlos Kalmar, conductor. Live concert with the completion of its well-known unfinished musical score of the musicologist Robert Levin.
Fauré's "Requiem".
Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Petri Sakari, conductor. Live concert.
Dvořák's "Requiem".
Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Carlos Kalmar, conductor. Live concert
Los conciertos de La 2 - Concierto RTVE A-5 - RTVE.es
* http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/los-conciertos-de-la-2/conciertos-2-concierto-rtve-5/2258548/ Dvořák's "Requiem".] Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Carlos Kalmar, conductor. Live concert
Los conciertos de La 2 - Concierto RTVE A-5 - RTVE.es

Lansing McLoskey's "Requiem, v.2.001".
Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. Eduardo Leandro, conductor. (Albany Records, 2013).
Lansing McLoskey's "Requiem, v.2.001".
What Is Noise ensemble. (Centaur Records, 2018). {{Authority control Requiem Masses,