The Requiem in C minor for mixed chorus was written by Luigi Cherubini in 1816 and premiered 21 January 1817 at a commemoration service for Louis XVI of France on the twenty-third anniversary of his beheading during the French Revolution.
The work was greatly admired by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms.
Movements
This particular setting of the requiem Mass consists of seven movements:
- Introitus et Kyrie
- Graduale
- Dies Irae
- Offertorium
- Sanctus
- Pie Jesu
- Agnus Dei
In 1820 a funeral march and a motet In Paradisum were added. In 1834 the work was prohibited by the archbishop of Paris because of its use of women's voices, and in 1836 Cherubini wrote a second Requiem in D minor for men's chorus.
The Requiem is orchestrated for SATB-choir, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 3 trombones, timpani, gong and strings. Note the absence of flutes and SATB-soloists, and the presence of a gong, notably in the 'Dies Irae'-section.