Requiem in C Minor (Cherubini)

A requiem in memory of Louis XVI was ordered to the former composer of the Revolution, Luigi Cherubini, on the anniversary of the execution of the king and queen (January 21, 1793 ). When the composer began work, his closest predecessor in French music was F. G. Gossek , who wrote his Mesqué morts back in 1760 .

The Requiem was first performed on January 21, 1817 in Paris, in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis , where in 1815 the remains of the king and queen were reburied. Four years later, on February 13, 1820 , he was executed in the same church in connection with the murder of the heir to the French throne, Charles.

Requiem immediately received recognition from his contemporaries; L. van Beethoven said that if he ever happened to write the Requiem, he would take the example of Cherubini ^[2] ; in accordance with Beethoven’s wish, it was this Requiem that was performed at his funeral ^[3] . The composers of the next generation, including R. Schumann , I. Brahms , G. Berlioz , and G. Verdi, also admired the work of Cherubini. At the same time, conservative leaders of the Catholic Church found the Requiem of Cherubini too secular for it to be performed in the church; in particular, the archbishop of Paris, Louis de Celan, condemned the presence of female voices in the choir and forbade the burial Mass of Cherubini to be performed in churches. Cherubini wrote his second Requiem, D minor (1836), already for the male choir.

1. Introit and Kyrie

2. Graduale

3. Dies irae

4. Offertorium:

Domine Jesu Christe

Hostias

5. Sanctus

6. Pie Jesu

7. Agnus Dei

Luigi Cherubini, who perfectly mastered polyphonic writing and counterpoint, as evidenced by his early, even Italian, spiritual works, in 1816 had to reckon with the changed tastes, brought up not least in his " rescue operas "; The requiem, although written exclusively for the choir, without soloists, had more in common with its operas than with early spiritual compositions. However, Cherubini sought to remain within the framework of the liturgy and created a work of bright, but not theatrical ^[2] .

Written at a time when Mozart’s Requiem was already widely known and even echoing in Lacrimosa, Cherubini’s Requiem and from Mozart, and from many others later, differs in Dies irae’s compactness, which it does not split into one breath.

• L. Cherubini. Messe de Requiem en ut ( 1950 ), NBC Choir and Orchestra. Conductor Arturo Toscanini
• L. Cherubini. Messe de Requiem en ut ( EMI Columbia, 1952 ). Choir and orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia . Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini
• L. Cherubini. Requiem a la memoire de Louis XVI (EMI, 1980 ). Choir and orchestra Philharmonic . Conductor Riccardo Muti .
• L. Cherubini. Messe de Requiem en ut ( Decca , 1985 ). Chicago Symphony Orchestra choir and orchestra. Conductor Georg Solti

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