Other than his operas, Verdi’s best known work is the Requiem, written for the first anniversary of the death of the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni. Just who was this man who inspired the agnostic Verdi to write such a powerful, moving and profoundly religious work, the full title of which is Messa da Requiem per l’anniversario della morte di Manzoni 22 maggio 1874? (Manzoni died on May 22, 1873.)

Alessandro Manzoni was born on March 7, 1785 in Milan, Italy and died almost 90 years later. Thus his life, as did that of Verdi, saw the Italian peninsula change from a collection of small states, most controlled by foreign countries, to a unified country. Like Verdi, he was very involved in the change.

As a boy, he lived in Paris and attended religious schools, but soon became a convert to the skepticism of Voltaire and moved in radical circles. However, after his marriage he returned to Milan and to Roman Catholicism. By 1822 he had written a series of religious poems and a tract Observations on Catholic Ethics. He also wrote works on Napoleon and historical tragedies, some influenced by Shakespeare. He took part in the abortive 1848 Milanese revolt against Austria, and, like Verdi, served in the first Italian parliament after Unification.

His most important work and his masterpiece is the novel I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), which takes place in the seventeenth century during the Thirty Years’ War. It is set in the town of Lecco, on Lake Como in northern Italy, and in the hill country surrounding it. It tells the story of two peasant lovers and their adventures and struggles to marry in spite of the opposition of a local tyrant and a cowardly parish priest. As a romantic melodrama, complete with bravi (bandits), it is very much on the pattern of the novels of Sir Walter Scott, whom Manzoni greatly admired. The novel brought him instant fame and, although admired as a classic not only of Italian, but also of world literature, its greatest influence was on the Italian language itself.

When it was written, “Italian” consisted of dozens of dialects, each almost unintelligible to speakers of others. Desiring to further the unification of “Italy” by unifying the language of the people, Manzoni deliberately wrote the final version in the clear speech of educated Florence. His language set the standard for later writers and is the Italian spoken today.

First published in 1827, Manzoni continued working on I promessi sposi, and by 1875 it had appeared in 118 editions. Verdi read it when he was sixteen and became a lifelong admirer of the author. To him the novel was “not just a book, but a consolation to all mankind”. He also called it “not only the greatest book of our epoch but one of the greatest to emerge from the human brain”. Verdi was so in awe of Manzoni that he felt he could kneel down and worship him, and he was so moved by his death that he felt unable to attend the public funeral. Several days later he visited the grave alone. I promessi sposi became the subject of at least six operas by other composers, but Verdi reserved his tribute for the magnificent Requiem, often cited with Beethoven’s Missa solemnis as the two greatest works of nineteenth century church music. The engraving at the right depicts Manzoni and Verdi.

The Requiem had its roots in an earlier work written on the death of Rossini in 1868. Verdi proposed the composition of a requiem with each of the movements contributed by a different Italian composer. No foreigners were to be included and it was to be performed in Rossini’s musical home, Bologna. He himself would provide the Libera me. A committee was formed to make the assignments but the initial performances of the complete work were canceled. It was not performed in its entirety until 1988!

After Manzoni’s death, Verdi proposed to write an entire requiem himself incorporating his earlier Libera me. He proposed to bear the expense of copying the music if the city of Milan would pay for the expense of the performance, orchestra and singers. The Mayor accepted the offer. Since the première was to be in the church of San Marco (shown to the left), permission was sought from the Archbishop for women to participate. It was granted with the provision that they be hidden behind a grating and wore “a full black dress with an ample mourning veil”. After the first two performances, it was given at La Scala where the women could be in full view!

The Requiem received seven performances in Paris, conducted by Verdi (right), and the official American premiere was at the New York Academy of Music on November 17, 1874 with a chorus of 150 and an orchestra of 80. (It had been given a few weeks earlier with a chorus of 20 and an organ accompaniment.) For its full effect it must be performed in a large space with a large ensemble. Verdi’s choruses were between 200 and 280 and his orchestras had at least 100 players with a minimum of 71 strings! He allowed applause after each number and even gave encores, practices frowned upon today. His orchestras played without rehearsals as he considered them a waste of time! In May 1875, the Requiem was given at the Royal Albert Hall in London with a chorus of 1,200 and an orchestra of 150 and Sir John Stainer at the organ, but San Diego audiences will have to be content with a chorus of a little over 200!