Requiem (Schumann)

Requiem
by Robert Schumann
Schumann in an 1850 daguerreotype
Key	D♭ major
Opus	142
Period	Romantic
Genre	Requiem
Language	Latin
Composed	1852
Duration	33 minutes
Movements	9
Scoring	Choir & Orchestra
Premiere
Date	1865

Requiem Op. 148 is a nine movement work by Robert Schumann for choir and orchestra. The work was originally composed in 1852 and published in 1865, eight years after the composer's death.

The work runs approximately 33 minutes.

Background

Started in 1852, Schumann's requiem was one of the last works the composer would successfully complete. Critics point to the work as evidence of Schumann's failing creativity and mental state.

Absent any known commission, substantial questions have been raised about Schumann's motivation for writing a requiem which represented a significant departure from the composer's previous style, in which he remained mostly secular. While Schumann was contractually obligated to perform in cathedrals several times per year after his move 1850 to Düsseldorf, documentation is not conclusive on the composer's religious background.

During Schumann's stay in an asylum for a suicide attempt, his requiem was one of few that he continued to compose. The original manuscript indicates that it was heavily revised, demonstrating Schumann's poor state of mind. It is speculated that Schumann, like Mozart, was writing his own mass.

Structure

The work consists of nine movements:

1. Requiem
2. Te decet
3. Dies irae
4. Liber scriptus
5. Qui Mariam absolvisti
6. Domine Jesu Christe
7. Hostias et preces tibi
8. Sanctus
9. Benedictus

Notable recordings

• Bernhard Klee, Cond.
• Hungarian State Orchestra, József Gregor, bass, June 3, 1987.
• Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch cnnd., October 7, 1996.
• Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic Orchestra, Sibylla Rubens soprano, Christoph Prégardien tenor, Ingeborg Danz alto, Georg Grün cond., 2015.