Messa di Requiem
Vocal Score
By Giuseppe Verdi

I have been singing in choirs for 40 years and I think using this Schirmer edition of the Requiem has been the single most disgusting and confusing endeavor of all. Just a lazy, poorly done rendering to save money I suppose. EXTREMELY difficult to follow due to inconsistent treatment of...

the score in too many ways to list here. Just HORRIBLE

While I appreciate the historical accuracy of the printing, I don't appreciate how painful it is to try to follow this score. As one of the previous reviewers noted, there are English words printed above the Latin text that are extremely distracting. In order to save space, the printers...

have condensed the staves in several locations, and the printing on facing pages doesn't always line up -- so you are never sure where your part is going to appear. There are also numerous places where there is no text at all on the alto and bass lines. This would be somewhat inconvenient if we were able to mark up the scores with highlighter, but we're supposed to return the copies our symphony has provided with limited wear and markings. I'm buying my own copy so I can mark it up however I need to and can give the symphony's copy back. If you are making a score choice for your choir, I implore you to choose something more usable! The Novello score is much better than this one.

G. Schirmer scores occasionally have minor deficiencies, and yes, some of the 'urtext' scores have striven to fix that- but, when a college (or an adult avocational) music student is required to buy a score (like this one, for a massed choral concert), price/convenience trump 'Urtext.' How often have...

I used (as soloist and conductor) the G. Schirmer editions, (many) and how many times have I used 'specialist' editions that often are twice as expensive? (once or twice) I think that simple fact- usefulness trumps pickiness- means G. Schirmer scores have both marketability and viability, especially for the fledgling music student, building a library of basics. G. Schirmer is the 'Ford' of music editions- not pretty, but it works.

the addtion of an English set of verses (not a translation) the lack of bar numbers and the occasional leaving out of lines make this a very poor edtion. Buy Edtion Peters not this.

There are lots of copies of the Verdi Requiem out there and many of them are not very good. This is a licensed photo copy of an 1896 printing that serves very well for choristers today. The rehearsal marks are accurate and the musical markings are clear. The Requiem can...

be very difficult to do well, and it needs decent rehearsal time. This score will help get you there. I had the binding removed and replaced it with a spiral binding and black cover sheets so it is ready for performance use.