A Requiem from the king of operetta? A Requiem by Franz von Suppé? What on earth would that be? Light cavalry pressed into a liturgical corset? A liturgical trifle without any significance? It is amazing and completely incomprehensible that this Requiem in D minor of 1855 for solo voices, choir and orchestra is still not in the common repertoire. True, there have been sporadic performances and a small number of CD recordings, but such marginal interest does not do justice to the work. How come?

In order to do justice to the work's enduring characteristics, it is worth considering the circumstances surrounding its composition. The occasion for writing it was the death of Franz von Suppé's great patron and friend Pokorny, yet it was dedicated to no less a personage than "His Holiness, Pope Pius IX". In terms of quality and the appropriateness of its setting, this Requiem is altogether in keeping with its elevated purpose. In his obituary for Franz von Suppé in 1895, Johannes Brahms wrote: "He actually owes his incredible agility in secular things to his sacred compositions. He had really learnt something!"