Verdi's Requiem

Verdi's Requiem is one of classical music's most monumental works - a composition that moves between dramatic outbursts of terror at the Last Judgment and quiet, heartfelt prayers for mercy and eternal light.

Verdi was deeply engaged in the movement for Italian unification and a great admirer of the national poet Alessandro Manzoni, one of the movement's leading figures. The Requiem was written as a tribute to Manzoni, and Verdi deployed his full palette of vocal and instrumental colours to explore the existential questions of life and death.

The result is a work that continues to move, frighten and console audiences to this day.