It's serene. It's luminous. It is, at times, transcendent. And it offers a gentler vision of the afterlife.
Most musical settings of the Requiem, or mass for the dead, are grand and dramatic. Some, like Verdi's, are full of terror and awe. Others, like Berlioz's, demand hundreds of performers to bring off their sense of celestial magnificence.
But the work we want to discuss today music soothes rather than terrifies. It's filled with floating harmonies, graceful melodies, and an abiding sense of peace. Composed with restraint and intimacy, it reflects not despair but consolation—a quiet embrace in sound.
This is music that whispers of rest and release
Its emotional depth lies in subtlety, not spectacle, and its enduring appeal comes from how profoundly it touches listeners without overwhelming them. This is music that doesn’t shout about death; it whispers of rest, release, and the hope of something tender beyond the veil.
Yes - we're talking about that most serene of farewells to life, the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Fauré.
Fauré described his Requiem, composed from 1887 to 1890, as having ‘a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest’, and indeed, its remarkable modesty and unusual tenderness provide a stark contrast to the grandiloquent solemnity that defines so many other Requiem settings. This is not the fire-and-brimstone worlds of the Requiems of Mozart or Verdi, but something far more serene and accepting. As such, among all the Requiems, it's probably closer to the reflective mood of Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem).
The omission of a ‘Dies Irae’ is telling of his attempt to do something different, and two of the final seven movements – ‘Hostias’ and ‘Libera me’ – weren’t added until 1893. A fully orchestrated version was finally published in 1901, and the debate over the ‘correct’ interpretation continues to this day.
Aaron Copland had a beautiful description of it
The great American composer Aaron Copland is said to have described Fauré's Requiem, memorably, as a 'lullaby of death'. Critics, writers and listeners over the years jave echoed or chimed with Copland's description, thanks to the work’s unusually gentle, consoling tone compared to more dramatic Requiem settings.
Fauré himself described the piece as being "dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest," which aligns with that interpretation—even if he didn’t coin the phrase himself.
We’ve put our heads together and come up with a definitive list of recordings of this soothing, transcendent work.
The best recording of the Fauré Requiem
Corydon Singers/English Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Matthew Best (1987)
Hyperion CDA66292
In this modest interpretation, faithful to the 1893 edition, Matthew Best commands an immaculate performance from the Corydon Singers. Wonderful accounts of the solos from soprano Mary Seers and Michael George blend perfectly into the undemonstrative aesthetic. Fauré would have been proud of this Requiem.
Fauré Requiem: four more great recordings
Choir of King's College, Cambridge/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Conductor: Stephen Cleobury (2014)
Our review labelled this Fauré Requiem 'quite outstanding in its beauty, balance and sensitivity'. Our reviewer Roger Nichols also notes that this recording can also claim some considerable historical interest: it's a reconstruction of the first complete performance of the work, at Paris's Madeleine church in 1888. After that, the work underwent various changes. So, we hear the Requiem as the composer first intended it. Other strings to this disc's considerable bow include the beautiful period brass of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the celestial voices of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge - one of the world's best choirs.
The Sixteen/Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Conductor: Harry Christophers (2007)
Despite using the full orchestral version, there is an intimate feel to this live recording from stalwarts of church repertoire The Sixteen and their partners in crime at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Harry Christophers uses brisk tempos to depict a sense of illumination and delight, and the deep affinity for Fauré’s elusive medium makes this perhaps the greatest rendition of the 1901 version of the Fauré Requiem.
La Chapelle Royale/Ensemble Musique Oblique
Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe (1988)
For this, arguably the most ‘authentic’ version of the Fauré Requiem, Herreweghe managed to procure manuscripts for an updated version of the 1983 ‘chamber’ score, which placed heavier impetus on the horns. The use of boy trebles adds a layer of cherubic purity to the already excellent sound of La Chapelle Royale, and soloists Agnès Mellon and Peter Kooy provide wonderful accounts of the solos. Certainly a recording not to be missed.
The Cambridge Singers/City of London Sinfonia
Conductor: John Rutter (1984)
In another return to the ‘chamber’ version, John Rutter strips the score of most of its woodwind and violin parts to create a delicate texture, conducting the players at a pace similar to that of Herreweghe. Avoiding any drama or fuss, this excellent recording finds an immaculate balance between the voices and instruments. Ample headroom is given to the singers, allowing for powerful surges that accurately depict the drama of the text, but without giving into the indulgence that Fauré so wanted to avoid in his Requiem.
This article first appeared in the November 2010 issue of BBC Music Magazine.