“If I were to write a Requiem, Cherubini's would be my only model.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor, by turns ethereal, highly dramatic and ultimately transcendent, was triumphantly premiered on January 21, 1817, in a memorial concert below the abbey church of St. Denis to commemorate the anniversary of the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The bodies of the long deposed monarchs had been searched for and found a few years earlier and were finally being laid to rest in the crypt of St. Denis. Though held in the highest esteem by many of the greatest composers of his time, this first of Cherubini’s two Requiems fell into obscurity by the end of the 19th century.

“The success of Cherubini's Requiem was immediate,” says Martin Pearlman, “and it was so overwhelming that Berlioz claimed that it gained a virtual ‘monopoly’ over memorial concerts in France. Beethoven, who called Cherubini "the greatest living composer," claimed that, if he himself should write a requiem, this one would be his only model; the work was performed at Beethoven's memorial service. For Schumann, the piece was ‘without equal.’ It is remarkable, therefore, that this beautiful work so admired by these composers, as well as by Mendelssohn, Brahms and Wagner, this requiem which the 19th century put on a level with the Mozart Requiem, fell into obscurity by the end of the century, along with most of the rest of Cherubini's music.”

Cherubini’s Requiem is scored for chorus and orchestra, but, surprisingly, does not feature vocal soloists. As Pearlman observes, “It is as if the composer has distanced himself as far as possible from his other life in opera.” Violins are omitted in the opening two movements, creating an especially somber orchestral color. A single dramatic stroke of the tam-tam (gong) at the opening of the Dies irae (Day of wrath) is no doubt the work’s most famous moment (or perhaps infamous, as some early listeners found it ill-suited for a religious work), and must have terrified listeners at the work’s premiere. Also notable is the work’s unusual ending, where the music fades away in a long, haunting diminuendo that Berlioz said, “surpasses anything of the kind that has been written.”