Music in the cuspFrom about the mid-1800s, the idea of a requiem began to have secular appeal. Not only did he made insertions to the mass text, he composed it in his instinctive idiom, opera, and at an impious volume. Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ is set for four solo voices: soprano (highest female range), mezzo-soprano (lower ranges of the soprano), tenor (highest male range) and bass (lowest male range). The great conductors of the last century were all drawn to Verdi’s ‘Requiem’. Great readings of Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ come from conductors who intuit its operatic idiom, throbbing pathos and existentialist angst.

Source: The Hindu November 19, 2020 11:26 UTC