A prodigious and radical composer, Hector Berlioz wrote this monumental work in three weeks as a commission from the French Minister of the Interior, who asked for a musical homage for the fallen of the 1830 revolution. Writing for a large orchestra and choir, one might have expected Berlioz to produce an over-sized and bombastic work but, aside from a number of grandiose passages, the piece is muted and meditative. Richly colorful yet mysterious, the Messe pour les Morts delivered its composer a decisive critical success.

© JN Credit - Gregory Massat