I can't find much to say about the Sanctus. It is the shortest part in the whole requiem, and was regarded by many as quite trivial. It certainly has nothing of the mystery that other composers tried to instill in it. Verdi's sanctus is, as one novelist described it, 'A dance of the children of light'. Apart from a bright powerfull beginning, All is gaiety and laughter here. The main theme is almost a dance tune and when the more lyrical mid-section arrives (to the words 'Pleni sunt coeli') it is only the Chorus that takes a calmer stride. The strings and woodwind continue to hop around like children mad with joy. Soon the Chorus returns to its previous manner, and in a chromatic blaze of brass serving as the fastest coda ever the whole Sanctus is over (In some concerts even less than two minutes length..).
I don't know what on earth Verdi could have meant by setting it that way. I leave the question opened..

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