The Complete Guide to Verdi's Requiem

A Complete Guide to the Verdi Requiem.

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00:00 - 3:20 Introduction
3:20 - 5:16 Requiem & Kyrie
5:16 - 14:10 Dies Irae (Sequence)
14:10 - 15:03 Offertorio
15:03 - 15:59 Sanctus
15:59 - 17:10 Agnus Dei
17:10 - 18:25 Lux Aeterna
18:25 - 22:02 Libera Me

The Verdi Requiem, with its famous Dies Irae, is one of the most famous orchestral and choral works in classical music. Here, I give a listener's guide with some analysis, to help you to follow the piece. This is preceded by a brief introduction, where I discuss the historical context of Verdi's masterpiece, and how the Requiem fits in with other Italian operas and liturgical works.

Recording used: Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Georg Solti; Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela

[redcrest]

This is exactly what I wanted! A guide that gives you some historical context to a great musical work and then takes your through the work blow by blow, movement by movement, so someone unfamiliar with the piece could appreciate the amazing things the composer was doing. I’ve subscribed and I really hope you’ll do more guides exactly like this for other great musical works in history. At some point, I hope you’ll do Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, a piece I love listening to but know am missing a lot of understanding/context. Also a comparison of various famous Requiems would be very interesting too!

[JohnMattador]

That last Libera Me climax with the soprano climbing up to the top C is breathtaking

[MarcBasilla]

One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.

[adhamsalem]

Mozart never finished his requiem.
Verdi: well, better finish mine before i start it.

[guilhermesobrinho]

That's a complete guide to Verdi's Requiem. Great job.

[clairevoyance]

You, my dear, are a wonderful human being. Thank you for putting so much work into these videos. There are days when I wish I stuck with music and finished my degree instead of foolishly giving into the emotional distress and ultimately leaving that world behind. Thank you for helping me find the joy and wonder in classical music that I fell in love with so long ago!

[TheYopogo]

I NEED MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE!!!

[kellygast]

Outstanding! Thanks for doing this! My husband did not grow up with any exposure to classical music, but enjoys attending concerts with me. Having this great Requiem broken down and explained like this is much appreciated - and it will allow my husband to enjoy it so much more!

Thank you!! You are awesome!!

[robertlittlejohn]

Have you thought of doing Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem (A German Requiem) on an episode of The Score?

When the conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra Maestro Alan Balter died of lung cancer, the Chorus was asked to sing, so we chose the German Requiem, Movement VII - Selig Sind Die Toten in his memory. The Chorus was one of many performers who sang at his memorial.

He was well loved by those who knew him, as well as those who were under his conductorship. I also sang this one twice under the same conductors mentioned in my comment on the Verdi Requiem.

[JimmyTheTurtle]

To start off: I really enjoyed this video as it gave me completely new insights to this work.

Secondly, I would love to see more such work of analysis about other pieces. Good candidates, I think, would be Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony, Shostakovich's 8th string quartet (and by extention basically his entire output), and perhaps a bit about the lesser known 2nd symphony of Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja.

Again, thanks for the video, and I can only wish for more like this one.

[parintelebaiazid]

From the bottom of my heart sir, I thank you for this! Astonishing work! I burst into tears a few times, you are an extremely gifted musician and poet! A million likes from me!

[davidstetson]

Words will never fully describe the impact of this towering masterpiece, but yours came very close! Well done. Thank you.

[ChristieFystiki]

I literally JUST discovered this channel and the first thing I saw is a guide to one of my absolutely favourite pieces of music. I've sung it, I almost know it by hard, I shiver everytime I listen to it, from beginning to end. I watched the whole video and I completely agree with its sentiment and tone. I even realized and discovered some things that I hadn't noticed before! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH !

[mrplatink]

You had me at "Dies Irae"....and then Violetta dying of the clap!!! Some speculate that had not Manzoni died, Otello and Falstaff, brilliant, Wagnerian-influenced operas composed after the Requiem, may never have been written. Verdi could have easily ended his career as Rossini did: with the success of Aida, he didn't need any financial reason to further compose. But the idea of dressing up opera in "ecclesial garb" was too tempting to pass up, especially since Verdi never saw himself as a religious Catholic. But and so Manzoni's death becomes a vehicle for this resurgence of masterful composition. Thanks for the vid!

[alanfambrini]

Bravo! Best exposition of a musical offering I have ever encountered! . . . more, please.

[MeiZu]

Besides Mozart's requiem Verdi is definitely one of my favorites!! So powerful!!

[qehwinv]

when the dies irae restarts at the liber scriptus some feeling of despair and grief washes over me

[Fredoin]

I really enjoyed this! Looking forward to exploring more of your uploads. Very nice, very helpful.

[Quotenwagnerianer]

In "Libera" the first syllable is stressed not the last one. It is "LIbera me" not "LiberA me".
And I wouldn't call the ending peaceful. It is more of a quiet urgency filled with uncertainty. "You just have to save me... save me...!". It lacks conviction, but it contains the hope that it will be so.

[FelixVW]

Great! I sang this a couple of years ago with the choir I'm a member of. It's just great. Gives me the shivers every time.