# Favourite Requiem Mass?



## eorrific

Rank your top 3 requiem masses. Or just one if you're averse to listening to masses for the dead. 

Go go go!


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## poconoron

In order:

Mozart
Brahms
Verdi


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## Polednice

Brahms
Verdi
Dvorak


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## EarthBoundRules

Unfortunately I've only listened to Mozart's and Berlioz' so far...  I know, I'll listen to Verdi's and Brahms' soon! Out of those two I prefer the Berlioz even though I love Mozart's as well.


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## Sid James

The order depends on what mood I'm in. Usually I don't like the very heavy going requiems, so those in the top two spots below are the ones I listen to the most -

Faure (or maybe Durufle's one?)
C.V. Stanford
Ligeti

& another couple are Cherubini's _Requiem in C_ & Peter Sculthorpe's quite recent one (kind of minimalist, but not _Holy Minimalist_, a style which to me seems so kind of overdone and predictable now)...


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## chee_zee

considering it's a 1500 year old style then I guess so, but using instruments to make music is outdated, we have computers nowadays. using pen and paper is outdated, we have sibelius. using hierarchy and structure is outdated, we have serialism. soon, the composer themself will be a thing of the past, as man makes way for machine and serial dubsteb in the style of nancarrow and sorabji begin to be composed at a rate of 5.000.000 works per hour. ain't progress great? wait, what's this? progress and art aren't synonymous? there's no end point of art, art is not teleological, but simply serves the purpose of expression? art is not philosophic, but mere audio, vibrations that affect our moods and thought patterns, enhancing consciousness and life? brilliant!


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## PetrB

Britten ~ War requiem -- Britten was atheist - or at the least Agnostic - this mass is missing the 'credo' section (which,dogmatically disqualifies it as liturgical,) and uses the rest of the body of the Latin requiem text along with the poetry of Wilfred Owen.

Robert Moran ~ Requiem: Chant du Cygne -- not a scrap of the mass text (ergo also non-liturgical,) but a few phrases Mozart is reported to have said when dying. Four choirs, four instrumental ensembles, organ; composed for a specific cathedral with a tremendous decay time, the four groups spaced equidistant from the center. Beautiful and moving work!





Stravinsky ~ Requiem Canticles - what the composer called a 'pocket requiem' for its brevity.

[The Ligeti Requiem already mentioned is also gorgeous and quite moving.]


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## tgtr0660

Mozart
Berlioz
Dvorak


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## beethovenian

Berlioz 10char


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## StlukesguildOhio

Mozart
Faure
Brahms


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## Art Rock

Brahms
Faure
Britten


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## science

Brahms
Mozart 
Biber/Victoria/Ockeghem


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## Polednice

chee_zee said:


> considering it's a 1500 year old style then I guess so, but using instruments to make music is outdated, we have computers nowadays. using pen and paper is outdated, we have sibelius. using hierarchy and structure is outdated, we have serialism. soon, the composer themself will be a thing of the past, as man makes way for machine and serial dubsteb in the style of nancarrow and sorabji begin to be composed at a rate of 5.000.000 works per hour. ain't progress great? wait, what's this? progress and art aren't synonymous? there's no end point of art, art is not teleological, but simply serves the purpose of expression? art is not philosophic, but mere audio, vibrations that affect our moods and thought patterns, enhancing consciousness and life? brilliant!


I think you got the wrong thread.


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## elgar's ghost

Tough one. Berlioz or Verdi for a bit of the old blood and thunder and Durufle (of which there are three versions) for a more ethereal soundscape. I also like Cherubini's from 1816.


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## kv466

Mozart
Verdi
Brahms


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## GoneBaroque

Faure
Britten
Brahms


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## eorrific

Dvorak wrote a Requiem?! How could that escape me. I'll try to listen to that as soon as possible. :tiphat:


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## Aquos

Brahms, Berlioz, Duruflé, Victoria, Schnittke, Mozart.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Really hard to narrow down to three!

At the moment....
Ligeti
Henze
Michael Haydn


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## GioCar

Brahms & Verdi, because their requiems are poles apart, then Ligeti.

Mozart's one is not among my favourites. I find it weaker than his masses

I would advocate Francesco Cavalli. His requiem (8 parts a cappella) is very seldom sung, but very impressive.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Aaaahhhh I forgot Biber!


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## Guest

Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem (even though it is technically not a standard requiem mass)
Mozart's Requiem (yes, I know, he didn't finish it, but it is still a fine piece)
Faure
J.C. Bach
Ockeghem
Biber Requiem a 15 in Concerto


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## Rackon

Not in order of preference:

Faure
Verdi
Brahms

This thread reminds me I must listen to the Ligetti, Cavalli and Britten again soon. 

Since it's the Verdi birthday year I've been listening to many versions of this masterpiece. Really enjoying Barenboim's new one with La Scala and his stunning quartet of soloists. Did anyone else catch Muti's stunning live CSO webcast? WOW. Didn't love the soloists (especially the tenor, from Muti's cd recording) but the orchestra and chorus were ON FIRE.


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## Rackon

eorrific said:


> Dvorak wrote a Requiem?! How could that escape me. I'll try to listen to that as soon as possible. :tiphat:


And a very lovely one it is too.


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## Tristan

Duruflé, Fauré, Verdi


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## Vaneyes

Schnittke, Verdi, Desenclos.


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## Mandryka

Ockeghem, Biber, Liszt, Birtwistle


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## DrKilroy

Mozart, Faure and Ligeti at the moment, but I still have to listen to Brahms' one yet.

Best regards, Dr


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## leepee

Mozart
Berlioz
Faure


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## Benny

Mozart
Brahms
Faure
Saint Saens
Andrew Lloyd Webber


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## MagneticGhost

I do love a good requiem.

Berlioz
Britten
Brahms


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## Alfacharger

I love the Britten.

I also turn to the Hindemith "For Those We Love". The fugue "Lo Body and Soul This Land" takes my breath away.






The Cherubini D minor for my third.


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## Dom

Faure, Durufle, Pizzetti


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## LancsMan

Mozart, Faure, Britten. Such a variety in these three.

Shame to miss off the Victoria and Berlioz.


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## Il_Penseroso

Berlioz 
Berlioz 
Berlioz


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## astronautnic

Brahms
Brahms
Brahms

:tiphat:


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## GiulioCesare

Mozart
Berlioz
Schnittke

Verdi's doesn't really do it for me. Weird, since I do love Verdi the opera composer.


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## arpeggio

GiulioCesare said:


> Mozart
> Berlioz
> Schnittke
> 
> Verdi's doesn't really do it for me. Weird, since I do love Verdi the opera composer.


Wow. It shows you how messed up peoples tastes are. I am the opposite. Verdi's operas leave me cold and the _Requiem_ would be one of my desert island disks.


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## Winterreisender

Probably Faure... and then Mozart.

But besides the obvious ones, I thoroughly enjoy Schumann's requiem! This piece is somewhat overlooked, but it has some fine moments.

And the Gregorian Requiem is pretty cool, but you've really got to be in the mood for that one.


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## Orfeo

Dvorak
Mozart 
John Foulds (A World Requiem)-disappointed no one mentioned it yet. It's a highly moving score.
Faure
Kabalevsky


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## Neo Romanza

Schnittke, Durufle, and Berlioz.


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## cihlomorka

Delius, Delius, Delius.

Mozart.


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## Novelette

Winterreisender said:


> Probably Faure... and then Mozart.
> 
> But besides the obvious ones, I thoroughly enjoy Schumann's requiem! This piece is somewhat overlooked, but it has some fine moments.
> 
> And the Gregorian Requiem is pretty cool, but you've really got to be in the mood for that one.


Yes! Schumann's Requiem, in addition to his Mass in C Minor, is a very much little recognized work, but the first movement is truly touching.


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## Fried fifer

Brahms, but I admittedly have not listened to many others Ill have to work on that.


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## musicchambernet

I have only listened to Mozart's so I am unable to rank my top three because I have only one in my kitty. Thanks.


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## Itullian

Brahms, Faure .....................


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## mstar

Mozart, especially up the third seq. 

I find the work so terrible to listen to, and am saddened by the apparentness that it came from the composer's heart.


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## Vaneyes

mstar said:


> Mozart, especially up the third seq.
> 
> I find the work so terrible to listen to, and am saddened by the apparentness that it came from the composer's heart.


And his assistant's heart. :angel:

I attended a performance of it in Salzburg twenty-something years ago, and it was gut-wrenching. :tiphat:


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## Andrei

eorrific said:


> Rank your top 3 requiem masses. Or just one if you're averse to listening to masses for the dead.
> 
> Go go go!


Dvorak
Faure
Britten


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## Fortinbras Armstrong

Mozart, Faure, Verdi


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## Selby

cihlomorka said:


> Delius, Delius, Delius.
> 
> Mozart.


Hmmmm. Delius - not familiar with this one.


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## Selby

If I had to narrow it to three I would proabably go Faure, Saint-Saens, Durufle.... but my tastes tend to run French.


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## Überstürzter Neumann

Morales
Mozart 
Verdi


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## stevenski

"Mors et Vita"(Gounod) which includes at least parts of the requiem. Not Gounod as u know him! Steve


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## Rachmanijohn

Mozart
Verdi
Brahms


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## Neo Romanza

Mitchell said:


> Hmmmm. Delius - not familiar with this one.


It's a work that wasn't well-received at it's premiere, but I think it's one of his best works for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. It was a wartime work, but you can read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Delius)


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## stevederekson

I know that once we've all listened to all the "main" stuff, we diverge off into the unknown, and we take much pride in doing so.

But, I don't see how anyone can justify picking anyone other than Mozart in this case.


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## hpowders

I would pick the Verdi Requiem over the Mozart. The former is intensely dramatic and moving.


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## Krummhorn

John Rutter _Te Deum_ is at the top of my list.


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## Art Rock

stevederekson said:


> I know that once we've all listened to all the "main" stuff, we diverge off into the unknown, and we take much pride in doing so.
> 
> But, I don't see how anyone can justify picking anyone other than Mozart in this case.


Too bad, because some people do. As much as I love the Mozart, I love the Faure even more (and Brahms if we included non-traditional requiems).


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## MagneticGhost

stevederekson said:


> I know that once we've all listened to all the "main" stuff, we diverge off into the unknown, and we take much pride in doing so.
> 
> But, I don't see how anyone can justify picking anyone other than Mozart in this case.


As much as I love the first half of the Mozart, the second half after the Lacrimosa (which he didn't write) does nothing for me.


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## Adagietto

Faure's is my favorite.

I did just listen to Fernando Lopes-Graça: Requiem for the first time and found it interesting.


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## Headphone Hermit

Ockeghem and Mozart

but I also saw Penderecki's Polish Requiem on TV a couple of years ago and thought it was an interetsting piece - nice introductory article on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Requiem . Perhaps that goes onto my next CD order!


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## stevederekson

I was recently introduce to the Cherubini and was blown away by it.

It was a Tristan-like discovery.


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## PetrB

Robert Moran ~ Requiem; Chant du Cygne


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## Xaltotun

Berlioz for the noble grandeur, Verdi for the overflowing emotion and Victoria for the inward-turned mysticism.


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## Marschallin Blair

The Solti Verdi Requiem with Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, and Talvela-- now that's a hard act to follow; even for John Eliot Gardiner.


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## DavidA

PetrB said:


> Britten ~ War requiem -- Britten was atheist - or at the least Agnostic - this mass is missing the 'credo' section (which,dogmatically disqualifies it as liturgical,) and uses the rest of the body of the Latin requiem text along with the poetry of Wilfred Owen.


Please note that the Credo is not there as it is not part of the text of the Catholic Requiem Mass. It's non-inclusion had nothing to do with Britten's beliefs or non-beliefs.


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## DavidA

I'd say 

Verdi, Faure, Brahms, Britten, Mozart in no particular order.


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## Vinyl

I've mentioned before that I always have to dynamically allocate a slot for whatever I'm listening to at the time of making a list of favourites, so my list of Requiems will absolutely have to contain Verdi's. I'm being violently assaulted by it right now, in the 1960 incarnation with Price, Elias, Björling and Tozzi. 

Verdi.
Fauré.
Brahms. 

Perhaps.

(edit/comment: Oddly, and a bit shamefully, I had this idea in my head that I hadn't heard Verdi's Requiem. Or at least not knowingly. Listening through it, I realized that not only is it as fundamentally familiar as a mother's lullaby, I also know for certain that I've been to at least one live performance of it - I have a vivid memory of the bassoon player screwing up the Dies Irae bit. Why I'd blocked out knowing it I have no idea.)


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## cjvinthechair

3 more traditional requiems I love :
Sigismund Neukomm
Guy Ropartz
Giovanni Sgambati

3 more modern:
Vyacheslav Artyomov
Karl Rutti
Jeajoon Ryu

Mostly on You Tube in full/part - do try one or two !


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## Orange Soda King

Brahms
Mozart
Howells

Also, Howells' _Hymnus Paradisi_ is basically a requiem, and a glorified reworking and expansion of his a cappella Requiem. Would that possibly count?


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## Guest

While Brahms' work has the title "Requiem," in the context of this thread, it is not a requiem mass - it most certainly isn't a mass. It is more simply a setting of scriptures from the Lutheran Bible set to orchestration.


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## MagneticGhost

Orange Soda King said:


> Brahms
> Mozart
> Howells
> 
> Also, Howells' _Hymnus Paradisi_ is basically a requiem, and a glorified reworking and expansion of his a cappella Requiem. Would that possibly count?


I'll allow it because it's such a great work


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## Vaneyes

It's plain to see and hear that the traditional Requiem Mass has evolved in many ways, even with a 1970 revision for the traditional.

Desenclos Messe de Requiem (1963) fulfills the staunchest structural requirement, yet its attractive soft overtone is perhaps closer to New Age.

I say don't punish creativity, as long as it remains in a classical mould.


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## Berlioznestpasmort

Brahms
Berlioz
Faure

Will someone do a tally to see which composers will row us to the isle of the dead?


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## Guest

DavidA said:


> Please note that the Credo is not there as it is not part of the text of the Catholic Requiem Mass. It's non-inclusion had nothing to do with Britten's beliefs or non-beliefs.


If you are you saying that the "Credo" is not normally part of a traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, may I ask where you got this from.


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## Chordalrock

First half from the Mozart.

Honorable mentions... Offertorium from the Ockeghem, as performed by the Clerks (don't like the Hilliards). "Libera me" from the 1605 Victoria (Tallis Scholars or Westminster Cathedral Choir; don't like the Sixteen).


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## DaDirkNL

Mozart, Brahms, Faure.


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## Doc

Berlioznestpasmort said:


> Will someone do a tally to see which composers will row us to the isle of the dead?











Back on topic, Verdi, Brahms and Faure. Not an uncommon opinion, looking at the replies here.


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## Vinyl

I want to replace Brahms (which isn't a mass) with Berlioz (which is, and which impressed me deeply). 
So Verdi, Fauré, Berlioz. No order. And Fauré mostly for nostalgic reasons. I listened to it a LOT in my late teens. It's the Dark Side of classical for me. I can't rate it, because it's in my bone marrow...


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## jlaw

My top three

Mozart

Brahms Berlioz


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## Whistler Fred

Faure
Duruflé
Brahms

Although not a requiem, I also very much like Bach Funeral Cantata "Actus Tragicus" (Cantata No.106).


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## MrTortoise

Mozart
Ockeghem
Ligeti


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## nightscape

Hard to limit it to three.

Verdi
Berlioz
Britten
Dvorak
Cherubini
Brahms


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## EDaddy

Mozart
Brahms
and it's a toss up between Verdi and Dvorak. 
(Depends on which day you ask me).

Is Beethoven's Missa Solemnis considered a requiem mass?
If so, that might take up slot 3


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## PrimoUomo

My favorite must be Requiem in D major by Zelenka




When it comes to religious music i prefer Zelenka, so my opinion is maybe not so surprising.


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## QuietGuy

I have two favorites: Andrew Lloyd-Webber's and John Rutter's. Both date from 1985.

I like the various styles ALW employs from movement to movement. Rutter's is just plain peaceful and reassuring. I'm not a religious person, but I feel religious listening to it. I make no apologies for liking the plain and simple tonal harmonies of the Rutter, either. It's refreshing.


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## Fortinbras Armstrong

I love the Pie Jesu from Lloyd Webber's Requiem, I loathe the Dies Irae.


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## Woodduck

1. Berlioz - because no truly devout person could think up such cosmic madness. It must be the Munch recording, with the perfect Leopold Simoneau floating the Sanctus on angels' wings.

2. Faure - because the conciseness, understatement, and dignity express the way I want to face death. 

3. Brahms - because it's Brahms.

Great requiems I don't care for: Verdi and Mozart. Interesting but not sure: Cherubini.


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## hpowders

Verdi Manzoni Requiem because it's Verdi and is the most dramatic and exciting requiem ever composed.


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## Itullian

I normally don't listen to Requiems as they're too gut wrenching.
But my favorites are the Brahms and Faure for their beauty.
Verdi's I find too bombastic and operatic for me.


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## BaronScarpia

I am rather partial to Ockeghem.


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## QuietGuy

John Rutter 1985
Andrew Lloyd-Webber 1985
Karl Jenkins 2005


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## Antiquarian

Mozart / Süssmayr
Verdi
Delius


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## jdec

Mozart's Requiem


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## science

Brahms of course, followed by Mozart, of course. 

Cherubini, Ockeghem, Victoria, lots more!


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## omega

Both human and divine: Fauré's one is definitely the best!


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## Oliver

Mozart, of course.


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## Xaltotun

I have a new one that I'm crazy about, the Cherubini (in C)! Found it thanks to a TC thread, as usual. I have not yet been able to sense any deep religious sentiments in this piece, but it is just such a great and mature composition, wonderful music!


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## maestro267

I've collected a few requiems this year, including Berlioz, Duruflé and Dvorák. I don't really know what my favourite is yet, but I must admit it's not the Verdi. I enjoy that work, but it places too much emphasis on the soloists for my personal liking, at the expense of the choir. Understandable considering he's predominantly an opera composer, but still not for me.


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## hpowders

The Verdi Requiem, though admittedly it's more a theatrical piece than religious.


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## uaxuctum

Have these two been mentioned yet? Amazing stuff (though, sure, "contemporary" and all that, so not for everyone's taste, of course).

György *Ligeti*: _Requiem_ (1965) [its _Dies Irae_ of Kubrick's _2001_ fame]






Erkki-Sven *Tüür*: _Requiem in memoriam Peeter Lilje_ (1994) [among IRC's 1995 recommended pieces]


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## Albert7

I am slowly collecting up Verdi's Requiem recordings.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Of the Mozart completions I favour the Druce version. 

And I think my favourite requiem now has to be Ligeti's!


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## DonAlfonso

Partita said:


> If you are you saying that the "Credo" is not normally part of a traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, may I ask where you got this from.


From "Guidelines for Liturgical Services according to the 1962 Missale Romanum - Music for the Requiem Funeral High Mass"
_Question:
Is it ever permitted to sing the Gloria in excelsis or the Credo in unum Deum at the Requiem Mass?
Answer:
In the Requiem High Mass, without exception, there is never a Gloria or Credo._

check out www.SanctaMissa.org


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## GregGoodale

Faure, Durufle', Hamerik


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## Albert7

Too bad Bernstein's Mass isn't a requiem .


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## Autocrat

Oooh, a requiem thread. 

In order, as of today:

Schnittke
Saint-Saëns
Sculthorpe.

OK, so I'm having an "S" day. It's a shame that Ligeti starts with "L", otherwise his would be in there for sure. If I were to die, and if I were Catholic and wealthy, I may well have requested the Saint-Saëns requiem be played but any of the other 3 mentioned would be acceptable. I am also compiling a list of the ones I would not like played. Currently this consists of:

Mozart (some bits are sublime, others are shudderingly bad)
Bruckner (awful)
Verdi (Too.Loud)
Lloyd-Webber (just no)
Anything with "Requiem" in the title but not actually a requiem mass. Were I Catholic these would probably offend me.

Tomorrow is another day, on which Howard Goodall and Nigel Westlake will be criticised.


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## MoonlightSonata

Favourite Requiem Mass? I think Mozart is just ahead of Berlioz, Verdi and Ligeti.


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## Manxfeeder

albertfallickwang said:


> Too bad Bernstein's Mass isn't a requiem .


It would be, but half the people are stoned, and the other half are waiting for the next election.


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## starthrower

Schnittke
Faure
Penderecki


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## SixFootScowl

eorrific said:


> Rank your top 3 requiem masses. Or just one if you're averse to listening to masses for the dead.
> 
> Go go go!


I am adverse to listening to masses for the dead and that on religious principals. So I can't list a true requiem mass, but will be happy to list that I am fond of Brahms German Requiem which is not a mass at all and is to comfort the bereaved.


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## Vronsky

Ligeti
Mozart
Berlioz


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## spokanedaniel

Mozart. For me, no contest.


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## Bridgetower

Mozart
Brahms
Verdi

I need to listen to more of these, like Britten's War Requiem and Berlioz.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

I still need to hear Berlioz's and Dvorak's Requiems, but so far I really like the following:
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem
Mozart
Michael Haydn


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## Xaltotun

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> I still need to hear Berlioz's and Dvorak's Requiems, but so far I really like the following:
> Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem
> Mozart
> Michael Haydn


If you haven't heard the Berlioz or the Dvorak, you haven't heard anything yet! May I also recommend the Cherubini (in c) to you. My recommendations in recordings, respectively: Sir Colin Davis, Karel Ancerl, Frieder Bernius.

In an unrelated note, I heard the Liszt and it was pretty extreme. Capitalized on the harshness and loneliness of death (even the _physicality_ of it, too, I felt) like few Requiems do.


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## hpowders

I would like to put in a good word for the Fauré Requiem-an unusually gentle take. Completely disarming.


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## Jos

Luigi Cherubini.

Thankfully I don't hear too many requiems in their usual habitat. I enjoyed this one today.


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## double

Brahms
Berlioz
Mozart


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## Cesare Impalatore

Top 3? Difficult but I'll try ...

1. Mozart: Simply the best. 
2. Verdi: Because I like my Requiem with italian operatic passion. 
3. Berlioz: Underrated composer who always went his own way, with wonderful results such as his Requiem.


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## Troy

1. Verdi
2. Faure
3. Berlioz

So difficult and could change my mind in a week or two.


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## Potiphera




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## Xaltotun

Cesare and Troy, I'm with you about the wonderful Verdi and Berlioz, but why don't you try something like... the Dvorak, so you can replace those Mozarts and Faures? :J I recommend Karel Ancerl/CPO. Dvorak was heavily influenced by Verdi, you know.


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## EDaddy

Such a tough one.

I would have to say Mozart, Brahms and Fauré. Conversely, I'd have to say the one I have the hardest time with is Beethoven's Missa. But I so _want_ to like it!


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## Xaltotun

EDaddy said:


> Such a tough one.
> 
> I would have to say Mozart, Brahms and Fauré. Conversely, I'd have to say the one I have the hardest time with is Beethoven's Missa. But I so _want_ to like it!


If you mean Beethoven's Missa op. 86, it's certainly not a requiem? Also, what's not to like about it?  A wonderful, energetic mass in the Haydn tradition, although obviously no Missa Solemnis, but then again what work can stand with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and not be destroyed?


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## mstar

Cesare Impalatore said:


> 1. Mozart: Simply the best.


I've got to say, it takes a little bravery to give that as a reason. But I couldn't agree with you more.


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## MAS

1. Verdi's Messa da Requiem
2. Mozart
3. Dvorak


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## Tsaraslondon

I was sure I'd already contributed to this thread, but can't find my post anywhere. Maybe there was a similar one at some point.

Anyway, my top 3 are.

1. Berlioz - possibly because I happen to be listening to the fantastic Davis recording at the moment.
2. Verdi - some find it too operatic. I find it almost impossibly moving, especially when heard live.
3= Britten - another work that never fails in performance
Faure- for something a little gentler


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## Metairie Road

The wonderful Requiem de Gilles. More celebratory than solemn.

Gilles Requiem - Frémaux (From a 1956 vinyl recording)





The recent Chapelle Royale/Philippe Herreweghe recording is a little more subdued but also excellent.

Gilles Requiem - Herreweghe





Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Nocture In Blue

Fauré
Duruflé
Mozart


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## Ilarion

Brahms: Deutsches Requiem
Durufle: Requiem
Berlioz: Grand Messe de Morts


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Manxfeeder said:


> It would be, but half the people are stoned, and the other half are waiting for the next election.


Ha! Good call! :lol:


----------



## lucia32

The Mozart Requiem is my favorite, despite the fact that there are some weak movements. The best movements are so outstanding that the Mozart is still my favorite Requiem. Of course, if Mozart had lived longer, the Requiem probably would have been a perfect masterpiece, commensurate with his greatest operas.

The Verdi Requiem is my second favorite. I enjoy the theatricality of Verdi's conception, and the Dies Irae is second only to Mozart's.


----------



## AClockworkOrange

My three favourites at this present time would in no particular order include:
- Faure
- Britten
- Brahms

Meanwhile Berlioz, Saint-Saens, Dvorak, Verdi and Mozart are circling the trio and occasionally displacing one to make the top three depending on my mood at a given time. 

I love all of them equally at different times for different reasons.

Faure may be the hardest of the 'top' three to displace.


----------



## Lukecash12

Cherubini, Faure, and Brahms come to mind first, as well Victoria, Palestrina, and Fux. It would be hard to order them but Fux, Cherubini, Victoria, and Faure are probably at a dead tie, with Brahms and Palestrina trailing behind.






His kyrie and sanctus are just out of this world.


----------



## Troy

Xaltotun said:


> Cesare and Troy, I'm with you about the wonderful Verdi and Berlioz, but why don't you try something like... the Dvorak, so you can replace those Mozarts and Faures? :J I recommend Karel Ancerl/CPO. Dvorak was heavily influenced by Verdi, you know.


Thanks for the recommendation. I have heard the Dvorak and I do like it. I've also recently been listening to the Stanford Requiem and the Saint-Saens. But I'd have to be in a certain frame of mind for either of them to make my top three.


----------



## Pawelec

1. *W.A. Mozart* - _Requiem_ in d minor, KV 626
Especially the _Introitus_, _Kyrie_, _Lacrimosa_ and _Quam olim Abrahae_. All of the parts are astounding. I think it needs no comments. Instead of making them, Berlioz should have shut up and burnt his own _Requiem_ in eternal flames... (of course I'm joking, we'd miss a good quality piece if he did)

2. *J.L. Eybler* - _Requiem_ in c minor, HV 37
Eybler's works need to be presented to larger audiences. His compositions equal Mozart's and Haydn's. And his Requiem is almost as good as Mozart's (well, he wrote some parts of it and utilises them few times in his own _Requiem_, the most notable is the opening of _Domine Jesu_). Recordings of Eybler's pieces are rare stuff, the only one of HV 37 is conducted by Wolfgang Helbich and I'm extremely proud to have it in my collection. With some effort the MP3's can be found online, but I cannot confirm the legality of upload.

3. *A. Dvořák* - _Requiem_ in b flat minor, Op.89, B.165
I like the philosophic character the work. The dark setting is incredible and the style is a mix of Viennese classical, _Sturm und Drang_ and Wagnerian Romantic. Dvořák took the best of them all while composing his sacred works and that's why I love them.


----------



## PlaySalieri

Pawelec said:


> 1. *W.A. Mozart* - _Requiem_ in d minor, KV 626
> Especially the _Introitus_, _Kyrie_, _Lacrimosa_ and _Quam olim Abrahae_. All of the parts are astounding. I think it needs no comments. Instead of making them, Berlioz should have shut up and burnt his own _Requiem_ in eternal flames... (of course I'm joking, we'd miss a good quality piece if he did)
> 
> 2. *J.L. Eybler* - _Requiem_ in c minor, HV 37
> Eybler's works need to be presented to larger audiences. *His compositions equal Mozart's and Haydn's.* And his Requiem is almost as good as Mozart's (well, he wrote some parts of it and utilises them few times in his own _Requiem_, the most notable is the opening of _Domine Jesu_). Recordings of Eybler's pieces are rare stuff, the only one of HV 37 is conducted by Wolfgang Helbich and I'm extremely proud to have it in my collection. With some effort the MP3's can be found online, but I cannot confirm the legality of upload.
> 
> 3. *A. Dvořák* - _Requiem_ in b flat minor, Op.89, B.165
> I like the philosophic character the work. The dark setting is incredible and the style is a mix of Viennese classical, _Sturm und Drang_ and Wagnerian Romantic. Dvořák took the best of them all while composing his sacred works and that's why I love them.


That's a big claim based on few pieces. why is he virtually unknown if he's so good.


----------



## PlaySalieri

Pawelec said:


> 1. *W.A. Mozart* - _Requiem_ in d minor, KV 626
> Especially the _Introitus_, _Kyrie_, _Lacrimosa_ and _Quam olim Abrahae_. All of the parts are astounding. I think it needs no comments. Instead of making them, Berlioz should have shut up and burnt his own _Requiem_ in eternal flames... (of course I'm joking, we'd miss a good quality piece if he did)
> 
> 2. *J.L. Eybler* - _Requiem_ in c minor, HV 37
> Eybler's works need to be presented to larger audiences. *His compositions equal Mozart's and Haydn's.* And his Requiem is almost as good as Mozart's (well, he wrote some parts of it and utilises them few times in his own _Requiem_, the most notable is the opening of _Domine Jesu_). Recordings of Eybler's pieces are rare stuff, the only one of HV 37 is conducted by Wolfgang Helbich and I'm extremely proud to have it in my collection. With some effort the MP3's can be found online, but I cannot confirm the legality of upload.
> 
> 3. *A. Dvořák* - _Requiem_ in b flat minor, Op.89, B.165
> I like the philosophic character the work. The dark setting is incredible and the style is a mix of Viennese classical, _Sturm und Drang_ and Wagnerian Romantic. Dvořák took the best of them all while composing his sacred works and that's why I love them.


I listened to Eybler's requiem on you tube - or at least 10 minutes of it - and the 1st lovement of his clarinet concerto. He was a good composer and what I listened to is reasonable but certainly not remotely in Mozart's league - or Haydn for that matter - but marginally better than Salieri and just about equal to Michael Haydn.


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## Pawelec

Eybler was famous during his lifetime. Maria Theresa herself commissioned many works from him. I have no idea why he was forgotten. I know the only composer comparable to Mozart is Haydn and the only composer comparable to Haydn is Mozart, so let me say I find Eybler's music much better than Salieri's for example. He'd take the 3rd place among classical composers in my ranking, with first given _ex aequo_ to Mozart and Haydn. Why isn't Eybler famous now? Well, he was a bit conservative as a composer, Beethoven took the innovative role in music history and he pretty much made all his contemporaries less important, Eybler and his 250 compositions included. Wait, but weren't J.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi and J. Haydn forgotten for some time?

Here's the full recording of Eybler's _Requiem_ in c minor on YT:





I don't know why, but of all the _Requiem_ masses I listen to I find the _Introitus_ among the best parts.

If you could recommend any decent Requiem masses from classical period I'd be very eager to listen to them. I've already listened to W.A. Mozart's, J.L. Eybler's, J.M. Haydn's, G. von Parterwitz's, A. Salieri's, J.C. Bach's (this would rather be galant) and both L. Cherubini's.


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## PlaySalieri

Bach was forgotten until about 100 years ago I suppose

the difference now is that scholarship has access to all the old masters so I doubt very much that any composer from that era will be substantially re-discovered by the classical music world in quite the same way. recording companies will hype many lesser composers - for obvious reasons.


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## dwindladwayne

Since I discovered the site RequiemSurvey.org, to answer to this question is becoming harder because its presence underlines my illiteracy about this matter. There are organized more than 5000 requietes!
I listened to many requietes, but my "many" in front of "five thousand" is nothing, especially if I think that I don't know if I know more than one requiem written in 21st century and in that site there are 406 requietes from that (this) century (here the link).
Having this said, being an easy minded one, probably I appreciate most:
Mozart
Verdi
Preisner


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## hpowders

My favorite is the Verdi Requiem. It is dramatic, powerful, lyrical, beautiful. All one can ask.
For me, it is Verdi's greatest work.


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## Avey

Pawelec said:


> 3. *A. Dvořák* - _Requiem_ in b flat minor, Op.89, B.165...


I may not agree with your characterization of the work, but I TOTALLY AGREE with your decision. Love the piece.

F G_b_ E F

Let it ring!


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## Skilmarilion

Two which I find to be utterly sublime:

Faure
Mike Haydn


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## Ferrariman601

My 3 co-favorite settings of the Requiem -

Michael Haydn's 1774 setting for Archbishop von Schrattenbach
Nunes García's 1816 Requiem
Mozart's Requiem and its array of completions and interpretations


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## gardibolt

Verdi, from the astonishing bombast of the Dies Irae to the heart-breaking beauty of the Lacrymosa. There's not a wrong moment in the entire massive piece.


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## ICHTHUS

Brahm's Reguiem
Verdi's Requiem
Gounod's St. Cecile Mass


----------



## gprengel

Besides Mozart, Cherubini, Verdi this is my favourite and emotionally most touching Requiem (sadly rather unknown and also not mentioned in this thread):

Kozlovsky - Requiem in E-flat minor from 1798:


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## gprengel

Besides Mozart, Cherubini, Verdi this is my favourite and emotionally most touching Requiem (sadly rather unknown and also not mentioned in this thread):

Kozlovsky - Requiem in E-flat minor from 1798:


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

I have Britten, Fauré and Mozart tied for first place, closely followed by Ockeghem, Lassus and Penderecki.


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## Joe B

Rutter
Faure
Mozart


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## Pugg

Verdi
Mozart
Fauré


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## leonsm

Schnittke, Dvorak and Mozart.

Suppé's one is very good too:


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## Pugg

leonsm said:


> Schnittke, Dvorak and Mozart.
> 
> Suppé's one is very good too:


Thank you for this tip, just ordered one on Virgin / Corboz.


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## leonsm

You're welcome


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## nikon

Mozart & Fauré, I should listen that Rutter one


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## Josquin13

The first Requiem mass by Johannes Ockeghem (Hilliard Ensemble), though I wish I could say Guillaume Dufay's lost Requiem, which was actually the first Requiem in music history, and is thought to have influenced Ockeghem.

Jean Richafort, Requiem (Cinquecento)

The Requiem of Orlando Lassus, or Roland de Lassus, or Orlando di Lasso, or Orlandus Lassus, take your pick, performed by the Hilliard Ensemble.

The many Requiems composed by Renaissance Spanish & Portuguese composers (especially Guerrero's, which I strongly recommend, if you don't know it, as well as Victoria's):

Francisco Guerrero, Requiem (1599), performed by the Orchestra of the Renaissance, led by Michael Noone (by the way, Glossa has recently reissued this very fine CD).
Tomás Luis de Victoria (Tenebrae, led by Nigel Short)
Manuel Cardoso (Tallis Scholars)
Duarte Lobo (Tallis Scholars, until Michael Noone records it.)
Cristóbal de Morales (Jordi Savall, or Musica Ficta)

Eustache Du Caurroy, Requiem Des Rois De France (Doulce Mémoire, led by Denis Raisin Dadre).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (performed on period instruments by Les Arts Florissants, led by William Christie, or on modern instruments by the Staatskapelle Dresden, led by Peter Schreier.)

Michael Haydn, Requiem in C minor, MH 155, Missa pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo (1771) (Unfortunately, I don't have a favorite recording of this work, but the ones by the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, led by Ivor Bolton, and The King's Consort, Robert King are decent. Maybe Helmuth Rilling?, who I've not heard.)

Hector Berlioz, Requiem, Op. 5 (Sir Colin Davis, first Phillips recording, or Charles Dutoit)
Johannes Brahms, German Requiem (Otto Klemperer, Andre Previn, or maybe John Eliot Gardiner).
Giuseppi Verdi (Robert Shaw, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, partly due to the vivid Telarc sound engineering, or Giulini.)
Dvorak (Istvan Kertesz, or Karel Ancerl)

Gabriel Faure, John Rutter's 1st recording of the original chamber version has incredibly beautiful In Paradiso movement, but Philippe Herreweghe's 1st recording, which followed shortly after, uses Faure's original chamber orchestration (which Rutter didn't have access to)--the parts were discovered by Jean Nectoux in the church in Paris where Faure gave its premiere. For the later Faure/Ducasse orchestral version, Philippe Herreweghe 2nd recording is excellent (he uses the new edition by Nectoux). I also have a special attachment to David Willcock's 1960s recording (especially for the wonderful singing of John Carol Case & the boy soprano in the Pie Jesu), as well as Nadia Boulanger's EMI References recording, who uses her own edition, which Faure asked for & approved! (as he signed it).

Ildebrando Pizzetti, Messa di Requiem (Westminster Cathedral Choir, led by James O'Donnell)

Benjamin Britten, War Requiem (the composer)
Vagn Holmboe, Requiem for Nietzsche (Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Michael Schönwandt--I don't know any other.)
Joonas Kokkonen (Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulf Söderblom.)


----------



## AfterHours

1. Verdi
2. Brahms
3. Berlioz
4. Mozart
5. Penderecki or Ligeti

Britten probably deserves "top 5 status" too, but I need to revisit it (been a while)


----------



## Michael Diemer

Durufle
Faure 
Mozart
Brahms


----------



## Pugg

leonsm said:


> You're welcome


Just arrived in the mail, now spinning!!:tiphat:


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## Rossiniano

Mozart... and I'll take Sussmeyer any day of the week as it works. 
Faure... probably the most peaceful of all.
Verdi... probably the most dramatic of all.


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## cougarjuno

Mozart
Herbert Howells
Dvorak
Verdi


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## leonsm

Pugg

Please, tell us your impression of it


----------



## eric444

Hector Berlioz: Grand Messe des Morts, Op. 5 (1837)


----------



## Harmonie

I haven't really listened to many, but I have always loved Mozart's, and recently I discovered Faure's and think it is also great. I'm afraid none of the others I have listened to have left an impression on me yet. I did, however, hear one part of Brahms recently and thought it was pretty, so I'll have to go give it a listen.


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## Pugg

leonsm said:


> Pugg
> 
> Please, tell us your impression of it


After just one spin...... nice work but no top ten contender for me, no regrets for buying it though.


----------



## gustavdimitri

1. Brahms










2. Mozart










3. Ockeghem


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## Aldarion

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Berlioz: Grande messe des morts
Mozart: Requiem


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## ArtMusic

Michael Haydn wrote a wonderful Requiem too.


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## archimago

1.) Duruflé (even if it lacks the Dies Irae)
2.) Mozart 
3.) Fauré (even if it also lacks the DI)

Not original choices by any means, but there you are.


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## SenaJurinac

*A bit unusual*

A few Requiem Mass performances can be watched/listened online from a bit unusual location: Moscow

Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi.
State Symphonу Capella of Russia,
Conductor Valery Polyansky

http://www.meloman.ru/concert/dzhuzeppe-verdi-rekviem-dlya-solistov-hora-i-orkestra/

Brahms. Ein Deutsches Requiem
Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Vladimir Jurowski

http://www.meloman.ru/concert/brams-nemeckij-rekviem/

Mozart. Requiem
State Symphonу Capella of Russia
Conductor Valery Polyansky

http://www.meloman.ru/concert/mozart-requiem/

Saint-Saens. Requiem
National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia
Conductor Vladimir Spivakov

http://www.meloman.ru/concert/sen-sans-rekviem/

J. S. Bach: Magnificat.
Mozart: Requiem

Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling
Conductor Helmuth Rilling

http://www.meloman.ru/concert/i-s-bah-magnifikatv-a-mocart-rekviem/


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## Oakey

Mozart is by far my favourite, I have this Karajan SACD which I very much enjoy:









Brahms is a good second.

Recently I discovered the Requiem by Timothy Hamilton on Naxos, never heard of this young composer but appreciated it very much.


----------



## Biffo

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Victoria: Officium defunctorum
Schutz: Musikalische Exequien

The Brahms and Schutz aren't strictly speaking requiem masses, so sticking to the brief - Berlioz, Dvorak and Faure - even there the Dvorak Requiem is a concert work, not written for liturgical use.


----------



## Phil loves classical

1. Victoria
2. Faure
3. Penderecki


----------



## San Antone

*Durufle* - the organ version is my preferred version of the three. I like Philip Ledger's recording with Janet Baker, but there are others that are good, done more recently. I have made an attempt to listen to all available recordings and have an on-going (privately) discography underway.

*Faure* - the 1893 orchestration. I like the Gardiner recording, but there is a recent one on Hyperion I heard that I really like a lot, as well: Yale Schola Cantorum, David Hill, Robert Bennesh (organ).










The Durufle and Faure are clear favorites, but beyond that, I like many from the 15th and 16th centuries. Richafort; Morales, Victoria (1605); but, too many to mention.


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## Jim35

I think I'd select the requiem by Michael Haydn as my current favourite. As a second I like Brahms requiem even though it's not a mass in the normal sense.


----------



## jdec

1. Mozart
2. Brahms, Verdi (tie) 
3. Fauré 
4. Rutter 
5. Britten
6. Berlioz


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## JSBach85

This is my comprehensive list of favourite Requiem composers in order:

*1) Ockeghem (c. 1410 - 1497)*
2) Tomas Luis de Victoria (c. 1548 - 1611)
3) Cristobal de Morales (c. 1500 - 1553)
4) Francisco Guerrero (1528 - 1599)
5) Jean Richafort (c. 1480 - c. 1547)
6) W.A. Mozart (1756 - 1791)
7) José de Torres y Martínez Bravo (ca.1670-1738)
8) Alonso Lobo (1555 - 1617)
9) Manuel Cardoso (1566 - 1650)
10) Pedro de Escobar (c. 1465 - after 1535)
11) Orlando Lassus (1532 - 1594)
12) Filipe de Magalhães (1571 - 1652)
13) Juan Cererols Fornells (1618 - 1680)
14) Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
15) Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594)
16) Johann Adolph Hasse (1699 - 1783)
17) Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
18) André Campra (1660 - 1744)
19) Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 - 1745)
20) Luigi Cherubini (1760 - 1842)
21) Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904)
22) Johann Christian Bach (1735 - 1782)
23) Michael Haydn (1737 - 1806)
24) François-Joseph Gossec (1734 - 1829)
25) Osip Kozlovsky (1757 - 1831)
26) Jean Gilles (1668 - 1705)
27) Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869)


----------



## BachIsBest

In no particluar order:
Brahms
Mozart 
Fauré


----------



## ArtOfTheFugueState

Howells
Howells 
Howells


----------



## MusicSybarite

In strict terms of the form:

Berlioz
Verdi
Duruflé
Saint-Saëns
Fauré


----------



## Pugg

ArtOfTheFugueState said:


> Howells
> Howells
> Howells


And the rest doesn't count?


----------



## Guest

This Requiem by Michael Haydn for the very moving Begräbnismesse, Stephansdom in Wien - 16.7.2011 - for Otto von Habsburg, last remaining direct descendant of Austrian Emperor: service performed by Kardinal Christoph Schönborn of Wien.


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## TJH122

I had a listen to the Hamilton after reading your post. Really enjoyed it, too. Great piece.


Oakey said:


> Mozart is by far my favourite, I have this Karajan SACD which I very much enjoy:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brahms is a good second.
> 
> Recently I discovered the Requiem by Timothy Hamilton on Naxos, never heard of this young composer but appreciated it very much.


----------



## TJH122

1. Britten War Requiem
2. Verdi
3. Faure
4. Mozart
5. Howells


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## Beet131

Favorite Requiems may be the most difficult of choices for me. I love so many of them. For pure inspiration and transcendent beauty, I could listen to the Durufle every week for the rest of my life and never tire of it. The Pie Jesu and Agnus Dei are to die for (pun intended). Perhaps my favorite recording is the Robert Shaw and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra version. Shaw's Pie Jesu has the entire soprano section sing the Pie Jesu instead of a soprano solo - purely angelic! The Mozart, Verdi, Brahms and Faure follow closely behind. How very different they all are from each other.


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## juliante

Josquin’s Missa Pange Lingua for me. Soars me straight into that ineffable place.


----------



## Dr Johnson

Mozart
Fauré
Verdi


----------



## Thomyum2

Duruflé
Faure
Brahms


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

I don't know that I have a favorite. I think each one must b e the favorite when I listen to it, then I go and listen to another one.

This AM I heard Cherubini. Right now it is Saint-saens. Both magnificent.


----------



## Rogerx

Depends all on the day but.... the Verdi one comes out most on the CD player.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

Today's favorite. The unjustly neglected Michael Haydn.


----------



## oldsculler

Palestrina
Mozart
Durufle


----------



## Xisten267

Berlioznestpasmort said:


> Will someone do a tally to see which composers will row us to the isle of the dead?


I just finished counting the votes of each member. All composers cited by each member were counted, including when a different number than three citations was considered, except if the composer didn't write a requiem, was cited negatively, or was already cited in a previous participation of the member. The composers and their respective scores (citations) follow below (in alphabetical order when more than one per score):

1. Mozart ............................................................... 68
2. Fauré ................................................................_._ 56
3. Brahms .............................................................. 49
4. Verdi ................................................................. 44
5. Berlioz ............................................................... 32
6. Duruflé .............................................................. 17
7. Britten and Dvorak ............................................... 16
8. Ligeti, Ockeghem and Victoria ................................ 11
9. Cherubini and M. Haydn ........................................ 10
10. Schnittke ........................................................... 7
11. Saint-Saëns ....................................................... 6
12. Rutter ............................................................... 5
13. Biber, Howells, Morales, Penderecki and Webber ...... 4
14. Lassus, Palestrina and Richafort ............................. 3

The following composers received two votes: Cardoso, Delius, Desenclos, Gilles, Gounod, Guerrero, Howells, Liszt, Lobo, Moran, Pizzetti, Sculthorpe and Zelenka.

The remaining composers, cited only once, are: Artyomov, J.C. Bach, Birtwistle, Bravo, Campra, Cavalli, Caurroy, Escobar, Eybler, Fornells, Foulds, Fux, Gossec, Hamerik, Hamilton, Hasse, Henze, Hindemith, Holmboe, Jenkins, Kabalevsky, Kokkonen, Kozlovsky, Magalhães, Neukomm, Nunes Garcia, Preisner, Ropartz, Rutti, Ryu, Schumann, Schutz, Sgambati, Shaw, Stanford, Stravinsky, Suppé and Tüür.


----------



## NLAdriaan

Allerius said:


> I just finished counting the votes of each member. All composers cited by each member were counted, including when a different number than three citations was considered, except if the composer didn't write a requiem, was cited negatively, or was already cited in a previous participation of the member. The composers and their respective scores (citations) follow below (in alphabetical order when more than one per score):
> 
> 1. Mozart ............................................................... 68
> 2. Fauré ................................................................_._ 56
> 3. Brahms .............................................................. 49
> 4. Verdi ................................................................. 44
> 5. Berlioz ............................................................... 32
> 6. Duruflé .............................................................. 17
> 7. Britten and Dvorak ............................................... 16
> 8. Ligeti, Ockeghem and Victoria ................................ 11
> 9. Cherubini and M. Haydn ........................................ 10
> 10. Schnittke ........................................................... 7
> 11. Saint-Saëns ....................................................... 6
> 12. Rutter ............................................................... 5
> 13. Biber, Howells, Morales, Penderecki and Webber ...... 4
> 14. Lassus, Palestrina and Richafort ............................. 3
> 
> The following composers received two votes: Cardoso, Delius, Desenclos, Gilles, Gounod, Guerrero, Howells, Liszt, Lobo, Moran, Pizzetti, Sculthorpe and Zelenka.
> 
> The remaining composers, cited only once, are: Artyomov, J.C. Bach, Birtwistle, Bravo, Campra, Cavalli, Caurroy, Escobar, Eybler, Fornells, Foulds, Fux, Gossec, Hamerik, Hamilton, Hasse, Henze, Hindemith, Holmboe, Jenkins, Kabalevsky, Kokkonen, Kozlovsky, Magalhães, Neukomm, Nunes Garcia, Preisner, Ropartz, Rutti, Ryu, Schumann, Schutz, Sgambati, Shaw, Stanford, Stravinsky, Suppé and Tüür.


moving on:

Hors concours:
1. JS Bach, Motetten (not literally a Requiem-text, but written for the same occasion)
2. Messiaen, Éclairs sur l'Au-Dela (no words, but very similar Requiem structure)

On topic:
1. Britten
2. Durufle
3. Brahms


----------



## PlaySalieri

Mozart's requiem is - it seems - more popular among TC members than any other requiem.

and its the only incomplete requiem in that list.

ironic isnt it.


----------



## Rogerx

stomanek said:


> Mozart's requiem is - it seems - more popular among TC members than any other requiem.
> 
> and its the only incomplete requiem in that list.
> 
> ironic isnt it.


They are all about death, so not _that_ ironic.


----------



## Rogerx

Salieri "Requiem"


----------



## Larkenfield

Instead of the smell of napalm in the morning ala Apocalypse Now, there's nothing like a good Michael Haydn Requiem. As much as I esteem his older brother, I believe Micheal could be somewhat warmer in sound. But both were terrific as treasures of the Classical era and I consider Michael as underrated and deserving of being heard more instead of usually being viewed in his brother's shadow. Unfortunately, it didn't help his reputation that he was known for being a heavy drinker and was criticized by Leopold Mozart. Nevertheless, I find something deeply sincere in his liturgical works, some of which inspired his friend Mozart's great Requiem.


----------



## Fabulin

Dazzling!


----------



## Rogerx

Requiem in d-Moll für Soli, Chor und Orchester (1855) - Franz von Suppé

Marie Fajtova, Marie Fajtova, Franziska Gottwald, Franziska Gottwald, Tomislav Musek, Tomislav Musek, Albert Pesendorfer, Albert Pesendorfer, Munich Philharmonic Chorus, Munich Philharmonic Chorus
Album
Sacred Masterpieces Stuttgart Gachinger Kantorei, Stuttgart Bach Collegium, Rilling


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## Sonata

Brahms
Verdi
Faure


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## Xisten267

My top three today:

1. Mozart
2. Brahms
3. Fauré


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast

I'd say Ligeti, Berlioz, Fauré


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## level82rat

Fabulin said:


> Dazzling!


Wonderful! Can't believe this name hasn't been thrown around more often. At least the video has a fair number of views


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## advokat

1. Mozart
2. Cherubini 
3. Fauré


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## fbjim

Berlioz. The passage from earth through purgatory to heaven from Lacrymosa to Sanctus is unmatched orchestrally.


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## gprengel

level82rat said:


> Wonderful! Can't believe this name hasn't been thrown around more often. At least the video has a fair number of views


I fully agree - this work is a miracle and captures me like hardly any other!!!

My favourites:
- Mozart
- this one
- Brahms
- Cherubini Requiems in c- and in d-


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## Bruckner Anton

by far:
1.mozart
2.brahms
3.verdi
4.faure
5.dvorak


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## hammeredklavier

Larkenfield said:


> Instead of the smell of napalm in the morning ala Apocalypse Now, there's nothing like a good Michael Haydn Requiem. As much as I esteem his older brother, I believe Micheal could be somewhat warmer in sound. But both were terrific as treasures of the Classical era and I consider Michael as underrated and deserving of being heard more instead of usually being viewed in his brother's shadow. *Unfortunately, it didn't help his reputation that he was known for being a heavy drinker and was criticized by Leopold Mozart.* Nevertheless, I find something deeply sincere in his liturgical works, some of which inspired his friend Mozart's great Requiem.


Leopold Mozart at first had a positive attitude toward his colleague, praising his competence, but when Michael obtained posts Leopold wanted for his own son, Leopold started getting antagonistic toward Michael, criticizing Michael as a "lazy drunkard". While there may have been some truth to this (Michael was prone to heavy drinking, and he was reportedly under influence of alcohol while playing the organ during high mass), it's also possible Leopold was exaggerating, born out of his antagonism for Michael.
Some say that Leopold Mozart, as the chief organizer of music at the Salzburg cathedral, made sure that, instead of Michael, Wolfgang got all the important commissions, and this is probably why Michael didn't compose much during the periods 1773 (the Mozarts came back from their Italian trip) ~ 1778 (Wolfgang left for Paris), and 1779 (Wolfgang came back from Paris) ~ 1781 (Wolfgang quitted his job in Salzburg and left for Vienna).

"Johann Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor heavily influenced W. A. Mozart's Requiem. In just two weeks Michael Haydn composed his work in December 1771, on the occasion of the death of his employer, Prince Bishop Sigismund Count Schrattenbach, who was beloved among the people and was a great patron of the arts. The work was written under the impression of personal tragedy: Haydn's only child, Aloisia Josepha, died in January 1771, before completing her first year of life. Parts of the Schrattenbach-Requiem were played together with the completed movements from his second, unfinished Requiem during his own furneral service. During the funeral service in Vienna for Joseph Haydn, parts of his younger brother's C-minor Requiem were also performed."

This is how I see the formal layout:

*Requiem in C Minor, MH 155 (1771)*
"trumpet signal" & requiem 1st theme: [ 0:20 ]
requiem 2nd theme: [ 3:20 ~ 3:45 ]
lacrimosa theme: [ 11:40 ~ 11:48 ]
chromatic fourth theme (climbing from D to G in the bassline): [ 12:40 ~ 12:50 ]
hosanna theme (lacrimosa theme transformed/recapitulated): [ 24:21 ~ 24:29 ]
"trumpet signal": [ 26:48 , 27:56 ]
chromatic fourth theme recapitulated (climbing from G to C in the soprano solo): [ 28:40 ~ 28:50 ]
cum sanctis tuis fugue: [ 29:17 ~ 31:16 ]
requiem 2nd theme recapitulated: [ 31:22 ~ 31:50 ]
requiem 1st theme recapitulated: [ 31:58 ~ 32:30 ]
cum sanctis tuis fugue recapitulated: [ 32:38 ~ 34:30 ]

I think Michael's work is overlooked by many; the tradition of the M.Haydn/W.A.Mozart requiems heavily influenced composers like Bruckner. (Schubert was especially fond of M. Haydn; he visited M. Haydn's grave to gain inspiration for writing liturgical music.)

Bruckner Requiem in D Minor, WAB 39
"There is clear influence of Mozart throughout the work.
[There] are many passages reminiscent of what was even then, in 1848/49, a past age (the very opening points irresistibly to Mozart's Requiem in the same key), and though the very inclusion of a figured bass for organ continuo strikes one as backward looking, there are already several flashes of the later, great Bruckner to come.
[Despite it] is by no means a perfect masterpiece... [it] can be said to be the first full demonstration that the young man was a composer of inestimable promise. ... [The] expressively reticent opening of the opening of the Requiem, with his softly shifting syncopations in the strings ... already faintly anticipates one or two of his own symphonic passages in the two earlier D minor symphonies, for instance Nos. '0' and 3... [We] cannot escape the solemn beauty of this music, which already has the authentic atmosphere of natural genius."

There's also another requiem (which Michael wrote shortly before his death; largely unfinished) that's more conciliatory in mood and anticipates Schubert and Brahms:


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## juliante

Despite the glories of the big orchestral works mentioned here, it has got to be Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua for me - i find it the most sublime and transportative.


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## Josquin13

I agree. But how is Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua a Requiem Mass? Isn't it a Marian work?

Speaking of which, one of my favorites is a six part Requiem mass in memory of Josquin, by his student Jean Richafort,

Requiem in memoriam Josquin Desprez:





Another top recording of this work is by Cinqucento, but it isn't on You Tube: https://www.amazon.com/Richafort-Requiem-other-sacred-music/dp/B008B3P4FO

My other favorite Requiems would include the following,

Johannes Ockeghem: 













Johannes Prioris:









Pierre de La Rue: 



Antoine Brumel: 




Francisco Guerrero: 




Tomas Luis de la Victoria:













Cristobal Morales: 



Manuel Cardoso: 




Eustache du Caurroy: 



Marc-Antoine Charpentier: 




And among later Requiems,

W.A. Mozart
Michael Haydn
Johannes Brahms
Guiseppe Verdi

Gabriel Faure:

















Maurice Duruflé: 




Ildebrando Pizzetti:


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## Malx

^
Thanks, Josquin, for giving Pizzetti a mention - I thought I was alone in holding his Requiem in high regard.


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## MrNobody

Requiem - Clemens non Papa


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## hammeredklavier

"Georg Robert von Pasterwitz (7 June 1730 - 26 January 1803) was an Austrian composer and teacher. He was born in Bierhütten, near Passau. First educated at Niederaltaich, he entered the Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster in 1749. He then enrolled at the University of Salzburg, studying theology, law and mathematics. It was during this time that he met Johann Ernst Eberlin, who became his music teacher. Pasterwitz completed his studies in 1759 and soon started teaching philosophy at the monastery's Ritterakademie, eventually rising to teach courses in mathematics, physics, economics, and political science; since about 1755 he was also active as composer, producing stage works for the monastery almost every year.

Between 1767 and 1783 Pasterwitz served as the monastery's choir director. Due to reforms started by Joseph II, he had to give up some of his duties and became instead the monastery's treasurer and eventually official representative, when it was threatened with dissolution in 1785. Pasterwitz died in 1803 in Kremsmünster, having served as dean of the Upper School there until 1801. Pasterwitz's surviving oeuvre comprises some 500 works, mostly liturgical pieces and dramatic works for the church. He composed a large number of short contrapuntal pieces for keyboard: 324 were published between 1790 and 1803, and were the only works published during the composer's lifetime. They show him as a competent master of both counterpoint and the keyboard. For the monastery, Pasterwitz regularly composed dramas and dozens of liturgical pieces: masses, offertories, vespers, etc."


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## Azol

My absolute favorite Requiem is (of course) by Verdi but I can see one name hasn't been mentioned here yet, very recommended:

*Richard Wetz - Requiem (1923-1925)*


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## hammeredklavier

Azol said:


> *Richard Wetz - Requiem (1923-1925)*


"Richard Wetz was a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies. In these works, he "seems to have aimed to be an immediate continuation of Bruckner, as a result of which he actually ended up on the margin of music history"."

I'll also add Bruckner's to the list






"The Requiem is most likely Bruckner's "first truly large-scale composition and probably his first significant work." "[It] is amazing what he achieved, especially if we look at the great double fugue of the Quam olim Abrahae, written at least six years before he even commenced his thorough contrapuntal studies with Simon Sechter!" "The Requiem was Bruckner's first larger-scale composition and also his first work with orchestra. [When reviewing it in 1892,] as a highly self-critical seventy-year-old, Bruckner passed judgement on the work as follows: Es is' net schlecht! ('It is not bad!')."

There is clear influence of Mozart throughout the work.

[There] are many passages reminiscent of what was even then, in 1848/49, a past age (the very opening points irresistibly to Mozart's Requiem in the same key), and though the very inclusion of a figured bass for organ continuo strikes one as backward looking, there are already several flashes of the later, great Bruckner to come.

[Despite it] is by no means a perfect masterpiece... [it] can be said to be the first full demonstration that the young man was a composer of inestimable promise. ... [The] expressively reticent opening of the opening of the Requiem, with his softly shifting syncopations in the strings ... already faintly anticipates one or two of his own symphonic passages in the two earlier D minor symphonies, for instance Nos. '0' and 3... [We] cannot escape the solemn beauty of this music, which already has the authentic atmosphere of natural genius."


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## Anankasmo

The Saint-Saens Requiem should be far more well known. It is such a great piece of music and doesn't outstay its welcome unlike the Verdi, Berlioz, Dvorak and others imo. It is a crucial link between the grand rather operatic Requiem of Berlioz and the inwards felt and consoling Requiem by Saint-Saens favourite pupil Faure. Therefore it holds a very important position in French sacred music.

*My favourite highlights*, although the whole Requiem is great:

*Requiem-Kyrie:* Great start with a string figure somewhat reminiscent of Mozarts Requiem. It sounds like the strings are crying. Great vocal build-up for the soloists and the choir. More in the tradition of Berlioz and Mozart. Stunningly orchestrated.

*Dies Irae:* This is a Dies Irae which sounds as imposing as the Berlioz or Verdi Dies Irae. Great climax for Organ and orchestra

*Oro supplex:* Once again great string moments and incredibly poignant singing here with a celestial finish.

*Hostias and Benedictus:* Beautiful consoling music which seems to foreshadow Faure quite a bit. Here i think is the turning point of French Requiem music to something much more gentle.

*Agnus Dei:* This is easily the greatest part of the whole work. Probably one of the greatest Agnus Dei ever written. The climax is gorgeous.

There is a doctoral thesis about the S-S Requiem out there which can be read via Internet and which illuminates these points further i think. 
The best recording imo is by the London Symphony and Geoffrey Simon.

Other favourites are of course Faure, Durufle and Mozart. But also Schnittke, Takemitsus Requiem for Strings (does it count??) and the short but beautiful Puccini Requiem.


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## MrNobody

Another interesting version of Clemens non Papa's Requiem. I have a third version of this on CD in my collection. I don't think this is the very best work of Clemens non Papa. Why doesn't anyone record the complete works of Jacques Clement?


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## Dick Johnson

1. Faure
2. Verdi
3. Mozart


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## Suzanne

Durufle - stunning!
Mozart
Brahms


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## Neo Romanza

A few of my favorites are Berlioz, Fauré, Duruflé, Dvořák, Schnittke, Britten and Ligeti.


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## Yabetz

Fauré and Duruflé. I don't include Mozart's since it has that "incomplete" feeling, and I've never been a big fan of the Verdi. If it counts, I also love Arvo Pärt's Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten.


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## Rogerx

Besides the glorius Verdi requiem this one:



Rebecca Dale: REQUIEM For My Mother


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## RobertJTh

Wonderful performance of the Berlioz Requiem that re-creates the circumstances of the premiere (huge, reverbant church) extremely well. All the instrument effects that can sound strange and primitive in the dry acoustics of a concert hall make a completely natural impression here. Superb chorus, soloist and conducting too. Truly astonishing.






And how about a purely instrumental requiem?


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## composingmusic

The Ligeti and Berlioz are quite interesting. Ligeti's is haunting and frightening in how it unfolds gradually - really quite eerie, and very effective imo. Berlioz is completely mad and original. The Lacrymosa is something else, in how he's offset the rhythmic stresses. I really like the beginning of the offertorio, although I have issues with how it moves on from there.

Another piece I'd like to mention is Oliver Knussen's *Requiem: Songs for Sue*, which has the word Requiem in the title, but isn't really laid out like a traditional requiem mass.


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