135 Verdi’s Requiem

Although in this module we are focusing on opera, this piece shows that our operatic composers wrote in other genres as well. The Romantic tendency toward grand gestures and the operatic composer’s tendency toward dramatic expression impacted other genres. Though this article discusses a movement from a Requiem Mass, it has all the potency of a dramatic production. This brief essay on Verdi’s towering Requiem provides an engaging overview of it’s historical origins and emotional power.