Sung by: Soprano and Chorus.

Latin

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda,
quando coeli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum venerit judicare saeculum per ignem.
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo,
dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et misariae,
dies magna et amara valde.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

English

Deliver me, o Lord from everlasting death
on that dreadful day,
when the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
I quake with fear and I tremble,
awaiting the day of account and the wrath to come.
That day, the day of anger,
of calamity, of misery,
that great day and most bitter.

Eternal rest grant them, o lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

This is probably the most complicated part of the Requiem. It is also the least that needs explanation. Whoever heard all other parts of this piece will get immediate grasp of the psychological and musical references made here. It is all immensely sophisticated - and crystal clear: The solo soprano beginning 'Libera me' with an almost personal supplication and continuing 'Dum venerit' with an absolutely personal fear, her utterances too broken to be called 'a melody', and the Chorus praying in the background creat the most operatic scene in the Requiem. Then one gets a sudden appearance of the whole Opening scene of the 'Dies irae', with the Chorus descending ominously in the much longer than before text of 'Calamitatis et miseria, dies magna et amara valde'. The soprano cries amidst this storm, and is swallowed in it. The storm soon subsides into terrible silence. and then..
'Requiem'. The opening bars of the very beginning return, this time a cappella', The chorus supplying its own accompaniment, the soprano soaring beautifully above it with the same theme the strings played back then.

'Dona eis, domine (in the beginning of the requiem)' - realaudio - this is the theme as it appears in the beginning of the requiem.

'Dona eis, domine' (in the end) - realaudio

This 'a cappella' chorus develops the theme into a complicated musical canvas, giving new interpretations to every musical idea that appeared in the beginning bars of the Requiem, until it ends quietly with both chorus and soprano intoning 'Requiem' twice in a beautiful cadence.
Into this peace the soprano bursts again with 'Libera me'. Her melodic line falls quickly, as if swooning.
Here begins the fugato that ends the Requiem. Mezzo-sopranos, Sopranos, Tenors and basses enter one after the other to join in this choral fugato, rythmic and sweeping, soon joined by the soprano-soloist pleading still above them.
The fugato slowly subsides, and the Requiem draws to its end, peacefully, the Chorus quietly intoning 'Libera me' while the soprano prays the same words, isolated and to herself. Then Chorus and soprano together repeat twice 'Libera me', at last united and not contrasting.
Thus ends the Requiem.

End of musical analysis.

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