Symphony Concert N° 6

When Rossini died in 1868, Verdi suggested that Italy’s leading composers join forces to write a funeral mass. He himself contributed the concluding »Libera me«. However, the project was abandoned shortly before the premiere. Five years later, Verdi decided to write his own requiem, into which he incorporated the existing material. This work was not written for the church, but for the concert hall. Powerful emotions and dramatic contrasts combine to create a stream of deeply felt music that underscores the urgent message of the sacred texts: humility in the face of death and the hope of salvation to be gained through supplication.