Requiem

The RC Mass for the Dead (Lat. Missa pro defunctis) beginning 'Requiem aeternam' (Rest eternal). Text follows that of normal Mass but with Gloria and Credo omitted and Dies Irae added. There are many mus. settings, from the traditional plainsong to elaborate versions more suitable for concert perf. than for liturgical use, e.g. those by Berlioz and Verdi. Other notable settings are by Palestrina, Mozart (incomplete), Fauré, and Dvořák. A typical disposition of the text in these large settings is:

1. Requiem aeternam; Kyrie eleison;
2. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) divided into Tuba mirum (Hark, the trumpet), Liber scriptus (A book is written), Quid sum miser (How wretched am I), Rex tremendae (King of glory), Recordare (Remember), Ingemisco (Sadly groaning), Confutatis (From the accursed), Lacrimosa (Lamentation);
3. Domine Jesu Christe (Lord Jesus Christ);
4. Sanctus (Holy);
5. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God);
6. Lux aeterna (Eternal light);
7. Libera me (Deliver me).

This is Verdi's scheme: there are several variations of it. Not all Requiem settings follow the Lat. text. Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem uses texts from the Ger. Bible. Delius's Requiem is a setting of a text by H. Simon and was described as 'pagan'. Hindemith's setting of Whitman's poem 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd' is of the character of a Requiem. Britten's War Requiem uses the Lat. Mass interspersed with poems by Wilfred Owen. Geoffrey Burgon's Requiem also uses several sources. The term is occasionally used in other contexts as in Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem for orch.