Luigi Cherubini's Requiem in C minor was premiered on January 21, 1817, in a memorial concert under the abbey church of St. Denis. The event marked the anniversary of the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. The bodies of the former monarchs had been discovered several years earlier, and after Napoleon's rise and fall at Waterloo, the government of Louis XVIII commissioned Cherubini to compose a requiem for their final resting place in the crypt of St. Denis.
The success of Cherubini's Requiem was immediate and, as Berlioz claimed, gave him a virtual "monopoly" on memorial concerts in France. Beethoven, who called Cherubini "the greatest living composer," declared that if he were to compose a Requiem, it would be his model. Schumann called it "without equal" and it was performed at Beethoven's memorial service. Despite the admiration of composers such as Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Wagner, this once highly regarded work faded into obscurity by the end of the 19th century, along with much of Cherubini's music.
Cherubini's Requiem, scored for chorus and orchestra, notably excludes vocal soloists. The absence of violins in the opening movements creates a somber orchestral tone. A striking moment is the single dramatic stroke of the gong at the beginning of the Dies irae. The piece concludes with an innovative Agnus Dei with a gradual fade-out that Berlioz described as surpassing anything of its kind.
Cherubini's life initially revolved around opera. After moving to Paris at the age of 27, he became a dominant figure in French music, with successes as an opera composer, teacher, and administrator. His opera company disbanded due to royal connections during the Revolution, and changing public tastes led to a decline in his career. Cherubini, who suffered from depression, abandoned composition until 1808, when he was asked to write music for a church. This marked a turn toward religious music. The premiere of his Requiem restored him to musical prominence, leading to his appointment as "surintendent de la musique du roi" in 1816 and director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1824, a post he held until his death in 1842.
Cherubini composed a second Requiem in D minor in the 1830s, prompted by the Archbishop of Paris's objection to women singing at funerals. This later work, written for his own funeral, features only male voices.
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