Requiem
The Mass for the dead — not a general label for any music of mourning
Related
A Requiem is a specific type of Mass, the Missa pro defunctis, the Mass for the dead. Besides the ordinary sections — Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei — it has proper texts such as the introit, the Dies irae and the offertory, and these give it its tone of mourning and judgment.
Polyphonic Requiems exist from the Renaissance; Mozart, Berlioz and Verdi later wrote works that entered the concert repertoire, Fauré omitted most of the Dies irae, and Britten's War Requiem sets Latin beside war poems. Settings differ in which sections they include, so it is worth glancing at the text before listening.
A common misconception takes Requiem for any music of mourning, or for Mozart's setting in particular. A Requiem is Mass music with a fixed Latin text; composers have written non-liturgical Requiems, but they still build on the Mass text.
Sources
- 安魂弥撒的专用经文、末日经与历代作曲家对文本的取舍，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Requiem"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.