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- Verdi composed his Messa di Requiem in 1874, in the midst of a pause in operatic composition (he premiered no new operas between Aïda in 1871 and Otello in 1877).
- Verdi composed his Requiem in honor of Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni, who died in Milan in 1873.
- The Libera me of Verdi’s Requiem dates back to around 1878, when Verdi suggested that “the most distinguished Italian composers” collaborate on a Requiem for Gioachino Rossini. The project was never performed, and Verdi ended up composing a whole Requiem on his own instead, integrating the Libera me which he had already written.
