Requiem

Requiem, from the Latin requies meaning rest, is traditionally a Mass for the dead in the Roman Catholic Church and some other Christian liturgies. In Catholic practice, it is celebrated to pray for the souls of the deceased and to ask God for eternal rest for them; the service is typically conducted on All Souls’ Day and at funerals. The liturgical text is primarily in Latin, and traditional formularies include prayers such as the Requiem aeternam. Over time, many rites have allowed vernacular languages and revised order of service, expanding beyond the classic sequence.

In music, a requiem is a musical setting of the Requiem Mass or a work inspired by it. The best-known settings include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626, left unfinished at his death and completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr; Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass, a large-scale dramatic work for soloists, choir and orchestra; Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, noted for its serene character; Hector Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts (Requiem), a monumental 1837 composition; and later works such as John Rutter’s Requiem. Some composers, notably Johannes Brahms, wrote choral works with Requiem texts but did not title them Requiem Mass.

Requiems have influenced Western music and culture beyond liturgical use, offering contemplative, somber, or consoling tones. The term also appears in literature, film, and video game titles as a symbolic reference to death and remembrance.