the.com/requiem
a love letter to the dead, scored loud enough to wake them.
means A musical or poetic composition written to honor and mourn the dead, named after the Mass for the souls of the departed in the Catholic tradition.
from From Latin requiem, the accusative of requies, 'rest,' built from re- (an intensifier) plus quies, 'quiet, repose' — a cousin of English 'quiet' and 'quiescent.' The word seized its meaning from the opening line of the Latin Mass for the dead: 'Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine' — 'Grant them eternal rest, O Lord.' The first word of the prayer became the name of the whole rite, and later of any music written to mourn.
- latin root
- means rest, the very thing it denies you
- mozart's last
- he died composing his own, unfinished
- banned bits
- the church later cut the terrifying Dies Irae
- not just death
- requiems written for tsunamis, war, lost languages
- loud grief
- Verdi's version uses cannon-like brass and drums
verdi requiem — premiered 1874 at la scala milan, 4-movement mass for the dead
brahms german requiem — premiered 1869, uses german protestant texts instead of latin mass