Omaggio a Puccini

Commissioned by the publisher Ricordi, the Requiem was composed in 1905 to mark the fourth anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's death. The work, for three-part mixed choir and organ, opens with a serene, luminous theme. The fullness of the singing is reinforced by the appearance of an alto violin phrase that wonderfully expresses a gentle, intimate fervor. It concludes with a final solo, like a distant, melancholy echo.

The Messa a quattro voci con orchestra is better known as the Messa di Gloria. First performed on July 12, 1880, it was a great success. Despite this, Puccini never published the complete manuscript, and the work fell into oblivion. It was Father Dante del Fiorentino who, at the end of the Second World War, purchased an old copy of the manuscript and rekindled musicologists' interest in the work. Conceived for a large ensemble (tenor, baritone and bass soloists, mixed choir and orchestra), this Mass is Puccini's first work of such ambition and density.

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