Requiem in C minor contains:
01. Introit & Kyrie
02. Graduale
03. Dies Irae
04. Offertorium (Domine Jesu Christe)
05. Offertorium (Hostias)
06. Sanctus
07. Pie Jesu
08. Agnus Dei

♫ 01. Introit & Kyrie
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 02. Graduale
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 03. Dies Irae
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 04. Offertorium (Domine Jesu Christe)
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 05. Offertorium (Hostias)
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 06. Sanctus
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 07. Pie Jesu
© Hyperion Records CDA66805


♫ 08. Agnus Dei
© Hyperion Records CDA66805

Cherubini's impressive work makes few concessions in the way of melodic charm or theatrical effect. Word-illustration is confined mainly to the offertory, where ‘the pains of hell’ and ‘the deep lake’ provoke shuddering demisemiquaver patterns on the orchestra, and ‘the fall into darkness’ is portrayed most movingly by broken phrases on male voices and strings descending to a solitary A in the bass.

This requiem ("König-Requiem) was written in 1816: it had been commissioned the previous year by the French government for the anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI on 21 January 1817. Posterity has a habit of elevating the obscure and neglecting the famous. Thus it is that Cherubini, hailed by Beethoven as 'the greatest living composer', is today often forgotten; 'If I were to write a requiem, Cherubini's would be my only model', Beethoven continued and the work was performed at his funeral in 1827. Schumann's opinion was that it was 'without equal in the world'. Berlioz considered that 'the decrescendo in the 'Agnus Dei' surpasses everything that has ever been written of the kind'. Cherubini was anxious to reflect the spirit as well as the meaning of the text and so, to avoid any unwelcome associations with opera, he decided to dispense altogether with soloists. It is a work of remarkable intensity, full of attractive choral and orchestral writing.

See also Bochsa and J.P.E. Martini.

Requiem in D minor contains:
01. Introit & Kyrie
02. Graduale
03. Dies Irae
04. Offertorium
05. Sanctus
06. Pie Jesu
07. Agnus Dei

♫ 01. Introit & Kyrie
© EMI 6294622


♫ 02. Graduale
© EMI 6294622


♫ 03. Dies Irae
© EMI 6294622


♫ 04. Offertorium
© EMI 6294622


♫ 05. Sanctus
© EMI 6294622


♫ 06. Pie Jesu
© EMI 6294622


♫ 07. Agnus Dei
© EMI 6294622

The Requiem in D minor, instead, was written in 1836. In 1834 the archbishop of Paris had objected to the use of the Requiem in C minor at a funeral, on the grounds that it contained female voices. Therefore, Cherubini decided to compose a new work for three-part male chorus and orchestra.
The 'Kyrie' starts off in a major tonality, but the orchestra postlude drives the music into a minor. Preceded by a gracious theme played by the violoncellos, the 'Graduale' is sung completely without any instrumental accompaniment pre-announced by a rapid ascending scale played by the higher sectors of the string instruments, the 'Dies irae' breaks out. For the first time the orchestral and vocal ripieno is heard, and the tutti effect is electrifying. During the entire duration of the movement, less lively pieces are alternated to dramatic and passionate outbursts; the final part, 'Pie Jesu' moves into a major tonality, but once again it is countered by the orchestra. The 'Offertorium' brings us back to the major key, this being a good example of Cherubini's typical ability to associate fully harmonic pieces with intensively chromatic ones. The 'Sanctus', also in major key, is even grander: the grand harmonic opening almost gives the feeling of a long chord in B flat major. The 'Pie Jesu', the most serene section of the work, takes us back into the minor key and to the "a cappella" style of the 'Gradual', but this time with brief inclusions of the woodwinds. The three-part beginning of the 'Agnus Dei' is touched on every time by the strings with an ascending chromatic scale, after which the music turns elsewhere to resume the atmosphere of the initial part of the work.

His equally fine, though more simple (than the 1816-work) Requiem in D minor, scored for male chorus and orchestra, is a purely liturgical work, intended for, and used at, his own funeral in 1842.