The theme of death inspires composers to create outstanding works, especially the setting of the Requiem, which comprises the solemn texts of the Catholic Mass for the Dead. The oldest polyphonic Requiem movements date from the end of the 15th century, with the first complete cycle by Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410) being preserved.[1][3] From the Classical to the Romantic periods, numerous masters have set these liturgical texts to music, including Mozart and Verdi, whose works are among the most famous.[4][5] The most famous Requiem was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791. It was commissioned anonymously, but he died of exhaustion during its composition. Franz Süßmayr completed the work based on Mozart's sketches.[5] Giuseppe Verdi's 1874 'Messa da Requiem', also known as the 'Verdi Requiem', was composed in the wake of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi deeply admired.[4] The size of the orchestra and the number of choirs formerly reflected the rank of the person in whose honor the mass was composed. Particularly large-scale requiem masses were written by composers such as Hector Berlioz, while other important requiems were composed by Franz Liszt, Anton Bruckner, and Camille Saint-Saëns.[5] Not all requiems follow the traditional liturgical text. Johannes Brahms used biblical texts in his 'German Requiem', while Benjamin Britten combined the liturgical text with poetry in his 'War Requiem'.[5] Some of these works, due to their instrumentation, are suitable only for the concert hall, such as the compositions by Giuseppe Verdi and Antonín Dvořák.[5]
