The
Grande Messe des morts (or
Requiem),
Op. 5, by
Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. The
Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous
orchestration of
woodwind and
brass instruments, including four
antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional
Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes.