Gabriel Fauré´s religious attitudes in his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48

Abstract

Gabriel Faure’s Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, one of the most captivating liturgical musical works that have been composed for the Masses of Requiem, broke the prototypes hitherto adopted for the creation of this music genre. Faure embodied a vision of death different from his predecessors and contemporary composers through an engaging and appealing musical style, a consequence of his religious attitudes. The motivations behind this evolving composition yet remain unclear; however, the luster reflected in its well-chosen liturgical texts, complemented and embellished by its musical forms and melodies, allows us to penetrate the reasons why Faure wrote this “lullaby of death”, as he described.